Zyons the hero in walk-off win

In its second home game of the season, the Norwich Sea Unicorns mounted an impressive comeback to nab its first home victory in walk-off fashion, 7-6 over the Worcester Bravehearts.

With the bases loaded and one out in the bottom half of the ninth, Zac Zyons, who drove in the winning run in Norwich’s season-opener last Thursday, came up clutch again with a hard-hit groundball that scored Jackson Ferrigno.

“With the new arm I figured he wanted to get ahead early so I was sitting fastball,” Zyons said. “I hit it hard, and we got the win.”

Worcester put across five runs in the first two innings to take the early lead, but Norwich outscored the opposition seven to one in the final seven and a half innings, using every bit of the nine innings to take care of business.

Norwich was outhit by Worcester but used timely hitting and plate discipline to its advantage. The Sea Unicorns worked out nine walks on the night, and all nine starters reached base safely at least once.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Sea Unicorns bullpen has been tremendous in the last two games, allowing just two earned runs across 10 innings in the two victories.

It was a trio of Norwich arms out of the pen Thursday night that kept the team in it. Ryan O’Connell took care of the middle innings without much trouble, allowing one run on three hits while striking out three.

Bret Fee entered the game in the seventh with the score tied and was able to get through the inning unscathed despite allowing two baserunners.

Then it was Eddie Kaftan’s turn as the Mitchell College righty was brilliant in his Norwich debut. He ran into some trouble in the eighth but did not surrender a run, and in the ninth he shut the door to give the Sea Unicorns a chance to win it in their final at-bats.

In the bottom of the ninth, an age-old strategy ended up being Worcester’s downfall. After a lead-off walk followed by a strikeout, the Bravehearts issued back-to-back intentional walks to load the bases.

Zyons stepped to the plate with the winning run 90 feet away and wasted no time finishing the game off.

With the infield in, Zyons roped a first-pitch fastball to Worcester first baseman Matt Livingston. Livingston was able to collect the ball on a hop, but Ferrigno was moving immediately on contact, and there was simply no play for Livingston at home.

The win moves Norwich to 3-4 and snaps Worcester’s five-game winning streak. The two teams will play each other again Friday night at Dodd Stadium. First pitch is set for 6:30 pm.