The Norwich Sea Unicorns got back in the win column Friday night defeating the Westfield Starfires 3-2. Last night’s victory improves the Sea Unicorns to 17-11 and back atop the Futures League standings.
Norwich’s offense came to life early against Westfield starter Chris Suter striking for a pair of runs in the 2nd. Antonio Ducatelli began the inning with a base hit to left field and later advanced into scoring position by stealing second. Next, Trey Begasse drew a walk, and a wild pitch on ball four allowed Ducatelli to take 3rd. A failed pickoff attempt by Suter that went sailing into foul territory brought home the 1st run of the night for Norwich and Begasse advanced to 3rd. Nick Sturino stayed hot at the plate delivering an RBI base hit to drive home Begasse and Norwich extended their early lead to 2.
Sea Unicorns starter Teo Spadaccini cruised through his first 3 innings of work facing the minimum. Westfield put the pressure on Norwich, loading the bases with no outs to start the 4th. The inning began with a pair of singles and a walk. Norwich then shifted their infield defense in to cut down the chances of Westfield bringing home a run on anything hit within the infield diamond. The shift worked to perfection on a ground ball to first that Peter Link fired home to record the first out of the inning. Spadaccini then struck out the next batter he faced for an important 2nd out. Manager Kevin Murphy elected to make a pitching change, with a pair of outs in the 4th, for reliever Andrew Gaines. It was a rocky start for Gaines, beginning his outing with 3 straights pitches outside the strike zone, but he quickly found his form, battling back to strike out the Westfield left fielder to end the inning and escape the bases loaded jam unscathed.
Westfield got on the board in the 6th, cutting the Norwich lead in half. The top of the Starfires order began the inning with a pair of singles to give Westfield runners at the corners with no outs. Gianno Merlonghi plated the first run of the game with a sacrifice fly to right field. Andrew Gaines received some help from his battery mate Connor Lane, who picked off the Starfires base runner trying to swipe second base for the second out. Gaines proceeded to end his outing in style collecting his 3rd punchout of the night.
The visitors brought the game back to equilibrium in the 7th leveling the game at 2. Jayden Novak set the stage for Westfield, smashing a one out triple to center field to give Westfield a one out base runner on 3rd. Sea Unicorns reliever Liam Carroll responded with a strike out for a critical 2nd out. Sam Morris came through in the clutch for Westfield, producing a 2-out game-tying RBI single into left field.
After striking for a pair of early runs in the 2nd, the Norwich offense was held to just 1 hit until the 8th inning. AJ Soldra helped reignite the offense for the host, reaching on a hit by pitch with one out. Soldra later stole second and advanced to third on a fielder’s choice ground out. Nick Tomasetto was the hero for Norwich last night, punching a go-ahead RBI single into left field to restore the lead for Norwich in the 8th.
Reliever Michael Belcher slammed the door shut in the 9th inning to preserve the victory for Norwich. The save for Belcher is his first of the summer and Liam Carroll earned the victory for Norwich in relief.
The Sea Unicorns return to action Sunday afternoon on the road for a meeting with the Nashua Silver Knights. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. EST from Holman Stadium.