NORWICH, Connecticut – In a tight battle between the two top teams from the 2024 FCBL season, the Norwich Sea Unicorns got the last laugh on the Westfield Starfires after winning in the home run derby 6-5 late Friday at Dodd Stadium.
The Starfires pick up a point with the home run derby loss, getting to 7-18-1 on the season. The Sea Unicorns snap a three-game losing streak taking home the win in the first home run derby ball game of the 2025 FCBL for a 10-15-0 record.
Both teams were retired in order in the first, but the Starfires changed the scoreless tie in the second.
It began with a single from Connecticut Husky Evan Menzel, followed by a hit-by-pitch drawn by Keene State product Jonathan Chatfield, and then a walk by Kansas State’s Jack Quetschenbach put three runners on. Then, North Florida’s Seth Alford ripped a double to right sending two Starfires home.
A few batters later, with Quetschenbach at third, Boston College’s John Mass hit a check swing ball about 15 feet in front of home plate, and with Norwich slow to react, Mass reached safely and Quetschback scored the third run of the inning.
In the third, the Sea Unicorns got one run back after the inning started with a hit-by-pitch and a single, then a sacrifice fly plated their first run of the game to make it 3-1 Starfires.
In the fourth inning, the Sea Unicorns erased their deficit and then added one more run in an inning where they registered four singles and a walk, and just like that the Starfires found themselves playing from behind, trailing 4-3.
Beyond their three-run second, the Starfires had virtually no action on the bases. Quetschenbach was the only player to reach base between the third and seventh innings, doing so twice after getting drilled in the fourth and then a two-out triple in the sixth, but neither time was Westfield able to get the Kansas City, Missouri native to the plate.
However, the top of the eighth inning began after Norwich gifted the Starfires with a dropped catch from the Sea Unicorns pitcher covering first on a groundball. This allowed Josh Frometa to reach to open up the inning. Ruggiero then walked to put the winning run on first.
Two batters later, the Starfires’ best run producer, Jonathan Chatfield, came up to the plate and sent a single into right field. Frometa slipped rounding third, but the throw from right field was horrendous, getting past the Norwich catcher to the backstop. Frometa scored easily, and even Ruggiero got around to score on the error, and the costly misplay gave Westfield a 5-4 lead.
In the bottom of the eighth, the Sea Unicorns got two batters on with nobody out after a hit-by-pitch and an out began the inning. A double steal moved both runners over, forcing the Starfires to draw the infield in.
The next batter hit a groundball to second, and the runner from third took off for home. The throw to home got away to the backstop, and Aidan Stern, who started the play at second, also bolted home trying to score. However, a nice throw from catcher Cooper Tarantino to Starfires reliever Justin Bowman got Stern out at the plate in the nick of time.
Bowman and the Starfires escaped the rest of the inning without any more damage, but the game headed into the ninth knotted up at 5.
The Starfires got two runners on the ninth after a walk by Tarantino, and an infield base hit by Mass, but a foul pop out on a bunt attempt and two strikeouts meant the Starfires ended the ninth empty-handed.
Bowman allowed a two-out walk in the ninth, but got a ground ball to second to end regulation with the Starfires heading into extra innings for the first time this season.
With Menzel starting the inning on second in the 10th, Chatfield immediately moved him over with a groundout to second, putting the winning run 90 feet away with one away. Gio Conte for the Sea Unicorns, though, fired up the crowd with a strikeout followed by a groundout to second to keep the Starfires off the board.
The Sea Unicorns drew a four-pitch walk to begin their half of the 10th, but future Richmond Spider Tripp Woytowicz then got a much-needed doubleplay groundout to put two away with a runner on third and then followed that up with a strikeout to take the game into the home run derby.
In the derby, both Ruggiero and Alford took cracks at sending the ball over the fence to no avail, recording 10 outs between the two of them. In the Sea Unicorns turn, Bryce Detwiler had a few deep flyballs that stayed in the park, but towards the end of his outs, the slugger hit one out over the left field fence, and the Starfires earned a point on the road in Norwich.
Mass was 2-for-5 with a pair of infield singles on the day. The Portsmouth, Rhode Island native has hit safely in four straight games, going 7-for-19 in that span. Quetschenbach had his first-ever FCBL triple in the game while Alford picked up a couple of RBIs with his two-run double.
Stonehill’s Tanyon Weber pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings in relief, yielding just one hit and a walk. Bowman got all three outs in both the eighth and ninth innings to go two scoreless with no hits, while Woytowicz blanked the Sea Unicorns in the 10th.
The Starfires will be back at home Saturday, June 28, for Star Wars night to benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters of Western Massachusetts. The game will feature specialty jerseys, a gaming truck, and more as the Starfires take on the Worcester Bravehearts at 6:30 p.m. Tickets for the game, and all Starfires home games, are available at www.westfieldstarfires.com.
