The Starfires faithful showed up to Bullens Field to set a new attendance record of 2,443 strong, but the Westfield Starfires fell 7-3 to the Norwich Sea Unicorns, Friday, June 13 in Westfield, Massachusetts, after the Sea Unicorns turned four double plays at several critical junctures of the game.
The Starfires continue to search for answers, now with an eight-game losing streak to put themselves at 4-11 on the season. The Sea Unicorns have won four straight to get above .500 at 7-6.
The Starfires surrendered another first inning run in an where the Sea Unicorns drove in one with two walks and a double.
Norwich looked to be in business with two runners in scoring position and one out, but ran themselves into an out at home after trying to score on a ground ball to first baseman Jonathon Chatfield, who made a nice throw and got the runner out by a mile.
After this, Griffin Mills flashed the leather in his Bullens Field debut, laying out his body on a shallow fly ball into center field to end the inning with just one run from Norwich.
After the lone run in the first, not much happened for either side in the next few innings. Columbia University’s Brendan Murphy tossed three straight shutout innings for Westfield in the second, third, and fourth.
However, trouble ensued in the fifth as the Sea Unicorns got three on with three consecutive singles. Two walks with the bases juiced then gave Norwich runs number two and three on the day.
Similar to last night’s game in Vermont, the Starfires could not get anything going offensively early in this one. Westfield got runners on in three of the first four innings, including a single from Chatfield in the third, and a base hit from FIU Panther Alex Ulloa in the fourth, but could not move any runner beyond first base.
That was until the fifth when future Kansas State Wildcat Jack Quetschenbach and Chatfield drew back-to-back walks to open the inning. However, all momentum was quickly erased as the Sea Unicorns turned a 6-4-3 double and then got a foul popup to conclude the frame with the Starfires still seeking their first run.
The game remained at 3-0 until the seventh, when the Sea Unicorns put together a big inning composed of four runs. Norwich had three hits, including a two-run home run, but a couple of errors and a wild pitch plagued the Starfires as well as Norwich ended the inning up a touchdown, 7-0.
Immediately following this, Northeastern Husky Anthony Ruggiero singled and Mills walked, but the Sea Unicorns got another timely double-play to wipe out another opportunity for the Starfires. However, Ruggiero got to third with two outs and a wild pitch scored the Mendon, Massachusetts product as the Starfires avoided the home shutout, now down 7-1.
After the Starfires were sent down in order in the eighth, the 2024 FCBL runners-up gave the crowd something to cheer for in the ninth. Connecticut Husky-to-be Evan Menzel started by roping a double into right center to extend his hitting streak to six games. After Ulloa singled to put runners on the corners, Ruggiero knocked in both runners with a two-base hit of his own as the Starfires were down 7-3 and still had nobody out in the ninth inning.
Mills continued the line with a walk, which put the tying run on deck. However, in the most fitting manner possible for this game, the next hitter, Quetschenbach, hit a sharp line drive back to the mound, leading to the fourth double play for the Sea Unicorns as Ruggiero was too far off the base at third. The crowd fell silent, and after a strikeout, the tough stretch concluded with a four-run loss to the Sea Unicorns.
Ruggiero and Ulloa both had two hits on the day, with Ruggiero driving in two runs and each of those two swiping a bag as well. Evan Menzel finished 1-for-4 with a double as the Coventry, Connecticut native has now recorded a hit in 11 of his 12 games in a Starfires uniform.
Owen Callaghan pitched a shutout top of the ninth inning fanning all three Sea Unicorns that came to the plate. The future Holy Cross Crusader has yet to allow an earned run across his three innings of work on the season.
The Starfires will head to New Hampshire for the first time this season to take on the Nashua Silver Knights tomorrow, June 14 at 6 p.m. before returning home for a rematch with the Sea Unicorns on Sunday, June 15 at 1 p.m.
Tickets to all Starfires home games can be found at www.westfieldstarfires.com.
