A Memorial Day to Remember

The Norwich Sea Unicorns won a thriller on Memorial Day 9-8, walking it off over the Nashua Silver Knights in the bottom of the 10th.

It was a wild ride at Dodd Stadium on Monday in a ballgame that featured many twists and turns along the way. The offense for Norwich began quickly thanks to Ryan Grace who ripped an RBI single to left field to drive in Christian Stratis with two outs in the first. There was no more scoring until the bottom of the fourth when the hosts cracked the game open with 3-runs on 4 hits sending 9 batters to the plate in the process. Nashua quickly responded with 3 runs of their own in the top of the 5th, to cut the lead to 1. Similar to Norwich, Nashua did their damage with two outs in the inning. The Silver Knights took advantage of a pair of errors committed by the Sea Unicorn defense.

The visitors tied the game in the 7th, but Norwich did not waste much time responding, when once again first basemen Ryan Grace came through in the clutch. Grace delivered an RBI double to help the home side restore their lead. In the top of the 9th, Nashua battled back and claimed their first lead of the afternoon on a 2 out RBI double. Alex Irizarry brought the game level once more in the bottom of the 9th with a sacrifice fly to even the game at 6.

Extra innings were needed in Norwich to decide the winner. Nashua jumped out front first with a 2 out, 2-run RBI double to grab an 8-6 lead in the top of the 10th. The monster day at the plate for Ryan Grace continued in the bottom of the 10th when he clobbered a 2-run home run. Anthony Tirado ended the ballgame later in the frame when he flipped a walk off RBI single into center field to win Norwich the ballgame 9-8.

Jack Ohman was sensational in his first Sea Unicorns appearance, firing 4 innings of 1 hit baseball along witch 7 strikeouts. Overall on the afternoon, Norwich pitching fanned 13 Silver Knights. Bryson Plante earned the victory for the Sea Unicorns and Wellsley de Oliveira suffered the loss for Nashua.

On Wednesday baseball will return to Dodd Stadum when the Sea Unicorns face the New Britain Bees. First pitch is scheduled for 11am EST and gates will open at 10.

Come out and join us for Education Day on Wednesday presented by  Pequot Museum and Research Center.