Florida International University product Alex Ulloa had a three-run double and the game-ending RBI single in the seventh as the Westfield Starfires earned a long-awaited win with a 12-2 dismantling of the Norwich Sea Unicorns, Sunday, June 15, at Bullens Field.
The Starfires now stand at 5-12 on the season and have won three of five against Norwich. The Sea Unicorns fall to 7-8.
After Greg Strite got two strikeouts in the first, the Starfires scored first in the bottom of the inning. The Sea Unicorns got two straight outs, but Connecticut Husky Evan Menzel started a two-out rally with a walk, and then American International’s Josh Frometa doubled off the wall in left to send Menzel home. It was the first time in nine games that the Starfires scored first.
Jack Quetschenbach, the future Kansas State Wildcat, followed this with a single for his first base hit of the season to score Frometa, sending the Starfires into the second with a 2-0 lead.
The Sea Unicorns had some issues with throwing the ball over the plate in the second, as the Starfires loaded the bases off a walk and two hit by pitches. Former Franklin Pierce Raven, Michael Quiros, later scored on a wild pitch, and then Ulloa had a run-scoring groundout as the Starfires doubled their lead despite no hits in the frame.
Westfield increased their lead even more in the third after, four straight free passes from Norwich gave Keene State product Jonathan Chatfield his team-leading ninth RBI of the season after he got plunked with the bases loaded. Ulloa then came up to the plate with three on and two out, socking a ball into the left center gap and scoring all three runners as the Cutler Bay, Florida native gave the Starfires an 8-0 lead.
Strite continued to look sharp on the mound, dealing with a lot of traffic on the base paths from the Sea Unicorns, including a base-loaded situation in the second, but the Marlborough, Massachusetts native held Norwich scoreless through three.
The Sea Unicorns did tally two in the fourth after a walk, then a long ball by Kenny Noe that cleared the right field fence after he put together a nine-pitch at bat.
Not much happened for either side in the middle portion of the game, with Connecticut Avery Point product Dan Lang holding the Sea Unicorns scoreless in the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings.
The Sea Unicorns’ bullpen was much improved after the third inning as they held Westfield scoreless for the middle three innings. Cornell’s Ryan Dillon had a single in the fifth, and Chatfield had a base hit in the sixth, but those were the only two baserunners for the Starfires.
Heading into the bottom of the seventh still at 8-2, things fell apart once again for Norwich. Frometa was hit and later came around to score on a single from Quetschenbach. After another hit batter and an error, Dillon was drilled with the bags packed, and then Chatfield walked for both his 10th run batted in this season, and the Starfires’ 11th run.
Ulloa then continued his hot afternoon with a single up the middle to bring the game to 12-2, ending the contest right then and there with the Starfires controlling a 10-run lead after seven innings.
Both Ulloa and Quetschenbach had two hits on the day, with Ulloa driving home four and Quetschenbach sending two Starfires to the plate. Ulloa is now 6-for-14 on the season with five runs driven in in his first five games for Westfield. Frometa got himself an RBI double on the afternoon, and Chatfield was 1-for-3 with a walk and two RBIs to get up to 10 on the season, placing first on the team and fifth in the FCBL.
Strite got the win on the mound after going four innings, allowing two runs and striking out five in his first start of the season. Lang followed him up with three innings scoreless, giving up just one hit and two walks, earning the save in the win.
Westfield scored seven of their 12 runs on the day with two outs, while the Sea Unicorns set an FCBL record by hitting eight batters in the game.
After an off day tomorrow, the Starfires will head back to Holman Stadium for another road matchup against the Nashua Silver Knights on Tuesday, June 17. First pitch for that game is scheduled for 6 p.m.
