Bees Sting Late, Spoil Cardman’s Masterpiece
Norwich, CT – The Norwich Sea Unicorns dropped a nail bitter on Thursday night to their state rival New Britain Bees 3-1. Norwich’s defeat is their 3rd in a row and are now a season worst 6 games below .500 responsible, for a record of 9-15.
It was a pitcher’s duel at Dodd Stadium as both starters kept the ballgame scoreless over the first 6 innings allowing a combined 5 hits.
Luke Cardman was electric on Saturday working 6 innings of shutout baseball. The Alexandria, Virginia native stymied the Bees offense to just 1 hit which was an infield single from Tim Henning in the 3rd. Cardman set both season highs in strikeouts with 7 and innings pitched, tossing 6 masterful frames on Thursday night. The righty has allowed just 1 earned run over his last 16 innings of work, striking out 18 without issuing a walk.
On the other side, Bees starter Ben Oliveira was equally impressive working 6 scoreless innings of his own. The Somerset, Massachusetts native limited the Norwich offense to 4 hits while striking out 5 and did not surrender a walk.
Norwich broke the scoreless tie in the 7th on a clutch one out single from Gavin O’Brien past the drawn in New Britain infield defense to score Anthony Tirado from 3rd, who drew a leadoff walk.
The visitors battled back to tie the contest in the 8th against reliever Cam Thomas. Jack Kane reached on an error to lead off the inning, and a one-out single from catcher Brandon Gaer amplified the pressure giving the Bees a pair of baserunners. A fielder’s choice moved both runners into scoring position, and a wild pitch from Thomas plated the tying run.
New Britain took the lead in the 9th, striking for a pair to grab a critical 3-1 advantage. Camden Righi jumpstarted the rally with a leadoff single against Norwich reliever Gio Conte. A one-out bloop single from Brennan Staubley put runners at the corners, and Jack Kane pushed across the go-ahead run on a fielder’s choice groundout. The Bees added insurance when a grounder was misplayed by the Norwich second baseman, allowing a second run to score.
Zach Zajac sealed the comeback win for the Bees, tossing a scoreless 9th to preserve the victory. He ran into two-out trouble after an error and a walk gave Norwich life, but the RPI product responded with a clutch strikeout to lock down the save and strand the tying run.
Win- Fayz Baig (1-0)
Loss- Gio Conte (1-1)
Save – Zach Zajac (S,3)
Time – 2:28
Norwich will look to turn the page tomorrow night against the Westfield Starfires in the final home game in the month of June. Brendan Grady (1-1) will toe the rubber for the Sea Unicorns opposite Connor Niemiec (0-3). First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
UPCOMING PROMOTION
“Norwich Connect” Jersey Night
The Sea Unicorns will wear special “Rose of New England” jerseys to show their strong connection to the City they call home, featuring three blue sections to signify the Three Rivers of Norwich as well as being emblazoned across the red front section with The Rose of New England!
Presented by: Dime Bank
Postgame Fireworks
Stick around following the game for a spectacular fireworks show by American Fireworks!
Presented by: Liberty Bank
Written by Adam Plager