Fast Start Propels Norwich to 3rd Straight Victory

The Norwich Sea Unicorns struck for 7 runs in the first 2 innings to fuel their way past the New Britain Bees 11-5 on Tuesday night. It is the 3rd consecutive victory for Norwich, helping the Sea Unicorns improve to 33-18 and hold a 3-point lead over the 2nd place Westfield Starfires.

Norwich went to work immediately, plating 3 runs in the 1st. A pair of walks issued by New Britain starter TJ Winn to begin the night provided Norwich with a pair of early baserunners. Winn retired the next batter he faced on a fly ball to right field, but Dossa tagged from 2nd to give the Sea Unicorns runners on the corners. Next, AJ Soldra swiped second base and a poor throw from the Bees catcher allowed Dossa to score from 3rd. Antonio Ducatelli extended the lead for Norwich with an RBI base hit into left field to score Soldra. Later in the frame, an error committed by the New Britain shortstop produced the 3rd run of the inning for the Sea Unicorns.

In the second, Norwich continued their offensive surge increasing their lead to 7. Despite retiring the leadoff batter of the frame, Kaiden Dossa drew a one out walk. The Yale product advanced his way into scoring position with his 2nd stolen base of the night. The dynamic duo of Dossa and Soldra worked their magic once again as Soldra clobbered his 7th triple of the summer to drive home Dossa. A wild pitch to Nick Tomasetto allowed Soldra to score and the lead for Norwich was 5. Antonio Ducatelli ignited the Norwich offense with a pair of outs, punching a base hit into center field. Trey Porter followed with an infield base hit to keep the stanza alive for Anthony Tirado who crushed a 2 out double to give Norwich a 7-0 lead.

New Britain scratched across their first run of the night in the 3rd to cut the Norwich lead to 6. The Bees began the home 3rd with back-to-back singles from Scott Gell and Donte Lewis. Norwich starter Michael Belcher received some help from his shortstop Anthony Tirado who was able to turn a double play on the following play. The host battled with a pair of outs to bring home their first run of the night on an infield single by Justin Hackett. The Sea Unicorns elected to make a pitching change for Giovanni Conte with 2 outs and traffic on the bases. Conte retired the first batter he faced to escape the 3rd with minimized damage.

The Sea Unicorns responded with 3 runs in the 5th, taking advantage of command trouble from New Britain reliever Alexander Slotter. The Bryant University transfer issued 3 walks, hit a batter, and fired a pair of wild pitches leading to all the offense for Norwich.

New Britain answered with 3 runs of their own in the bottom of the inning, once again trimming the Norwich lead to 6. Scott Gell began the home 5th launching his first home run of the summer. Conte settled down after surrendering the leadoff home run by retiring the next 2 batters he faced in order. Unfortunately, a pair of 2 out walks ended the night for the UCONN reliever as Norwich elected to bring in Callen Powers. Freddy Forgione took advantage of the run scoring opportunity blasting a 2-run double to right field.

After a turbulent entrance, Callen Powers was dominant in relief, allowing just 2 hits in 4.1 innings of work to earn the victory. The UMass product struck out a season-high 8 to help Norwich win their third in a row.

The Sea Unicorns are back in action tonight for a double-header against the New Britain Bees. First pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m. EST tonight from Dodd Stadium.

Win- Callen Powers (2-1)

Loss- TJ Winn (3-3)

Time- 3:05