The Norwich Sea Unicorns and the New Britain Bees split the Wednesday night doubleheader at Dodd Stadium. Both contests went down to the wire as it was the New Britain Bees who stung Norwich in dramatic fashion in the opener, winning 5-3, and the Sea Unicorns who returned the favor in the finale, walking off the Bees 4-3.
Game 1
The Norwich Sea Unicorns went to work immediately in the opener, striking for a pair of runs in the 1st to take an early 2-0 lead. Christian Stratis kept the home 1st alive with an infield single. Antonio Ducatelli followed by cracking an RBI triple to center field to drive home the first run of the night for Norwich. Next, a passed ball from New Britain starter Dylan Scudder that leaked to the backstop allowed Ducatelli and Norwich to extend their lead.
In the 3rd, New Britain sliced the Norwich lead in half, striking for a run against starter Tim Lewis. The visitors loaded the bases with one out thanks to a pair of walks and a single. Daniel Perez delivered for the Bees with an RBI base hit to center field. Perez’s base knock ended the night for Lewis, who departed with the bases loaded and one out in the 3rd. Manager Kevin Murphy elected to bring in reliever Mike Poncini to escape the jam without any further damage. The Quinnipiac product worked his magic, inducing a pop up to second base and fly out to left field to preserve the lead for Norwich.
The Sea Unicorns added a run in the 4th to restore their 2-run advantage over New Britain. Norwich loaded the bases with one out thanks to a walk drawn by Alex Irizarry and back-to-back singles from Anthony Tirado and Owen Turner. A sacrifice fly by Chris Carson to center field produced the 3rd run of the ballgame for Norwich.
The ballgame remained 3-1 until the top of the 7th when New Britain erupted for 4 runs against closer Jimmy Mulvaney. Entering last night’s outing, the Fairfield product tossed 11 consecutive scoreless innings. Unfortunately, New Britain had other ideas, stunning Norwich with a 4-run 7th on 4 hits, a walk, and a wild pitch.
Game 2
Similar to game 1, it was the Sea Unicorns who drew first blood taking an early lead. Trey Porter helped ignite the offense in the home 3rd, smashing a lead off double to right field. A passed ball allowed Porter to take 3rd and later a wild pitch brought home the 1st run of the ballgame for Norwich.
New Britain responded with a pair of runs against Norwich starter Luke Cardman in the 4th to take the lead. Daniel Perez began the frame with a leadoff single and Jack Arcamone followed by hammering a game-tying triple to the wall in right field. TJ Gormley gave the visitors the lead with a base hit to right field to drive home Arcamone from 3rd. After surrendering a pair of runs, Cardman was able to recover, retiring the next 3 batters he faced in order to prevent any further damage.
Norwich battled back to draw the game even in the 7th. Michael Oates ignited some life into the Norwich offense, cracking his first double of the summer with one out. Nick Sturino followed with a clutch RBI base hit to left field to bring home Chris Carson, the pinch runner at second base. Unfortunately, Sturino was cut down at second base trying to extend his single into extra bases. After a base hit by Kaiden Dossa with a pair of outs, New Britain elected to bring in reliever Esteban Rivera III to record the final out of the 7th.
Extra innings were necessary in the Rose City last night, with the ballgame even at 2. New Britain took the lead in the top of the 8th, bringing home the automatic runner at 2nd with a sacrifice fly. Reliever Gavin Hawkes slammed the door shut, not allowing any more offense from the Bees.
Norwich rallied in the bottom of the 8th to walk off the Bees in dramatic fashion. A sacrifice bunt by Trey Porter moved Nick Tomasetto to 3rd after beginning the inning as the automatic runner at second base. Connor Lane delivered with a game tying RBI base hit to score Tomasetto from 3rd. Anthony Tirado drew a two out walk and Norwich had one of the top hitters in AJ Soldra at the plate with runners at first and second with two away. New Britain decided to intentionally walk Soldra to load the bases and face Chris Carson instead. The Stony Brook product made New Britain pay with a walk off single to right field to win the ballgame for Norwich in dramatic fashion 4-3.
UPCOMING
The Norwich Sea Unicorns will play an exhibition game tonight at 6:30 against the Wallingford Silver Storm of the Connecticut Collegiate Baseball League. This exhibition will be scheduled for 7 innings. As a reminder, we have moved our Replica Ring Giveaway to Friday night, however, we are still planning our K Cancer night for Thursday.