By Ethan Hudson

NEW BRITAIN – The New Britain Bees fell to the Westfield Starfires 9-8 at New Britain Stadium. This game had a little bit of everything–runs, walks, hit by pitches, errors, the rare flashy defensive play, and of course, heartbreak. The Bees fall to 12-7 on the season, snapping their two-game winning streak.

Robby Wunsch (UMass Boston/South Windsor, CT) got the start for New Britain and pitched a respectable outing, lasting four innings and yielding three runs, while striking out one and walking two.

The game started with immediate offense from Westfield. Wunsch gave up a single to the leadoff hitter, followed by hitting the next batter, and then allowed an RBI double to grant Westfield its first run of the ballgame.

The Bees instantly responded in the bottom of the first, with leadoff batter Myles Gythfeldt (Colby College/Ridgefield, CT) lacing a single to center to get things started. After swiping second, Gythfeldt was sent home by an RBI single off the bat of designated hitter James Fagnant (UConn Avery/East Granby) to even the game at 1.

The Starfires would rally for a run in the second and two runs in the fourth to take a 4-1 lead.

However, with each punch that Westfield threw, the Bees answered. After walking and then stealing second, left fielder Jack Kane (St. Joe’s/West Hartford, CT) scored from a much needed RBI single off the bat of center fielder Danny Rogers (Salve Regina/New Canaan, CT), his third in his last four games. With the score now 4-2, Rogers took second base on a wild pitch and then scored off of an error from Westfield’s third baseman, putting the Bees within one run heading into the fifth inning.

New Britain’s Max Jarvie (Endicott/Wilton, CT) was called from the bullpen to relieve Wunsch to start the top of the fifth. Jarvie, who had only pitched in one previous contest this season, gave up just one hit in his three innings of work.

The Bees stung again in the bottom of the sixth, capitalizing on the mistakes of the Starfires’ pitcher. Second baseman Amato Civitello (UConn/East Haven, CT) was hit by a pitch, Rogers walked (Bees lead the FCBL in total walks), and shortstop Grady Schopps took a pitch to the mid section, loading the bases for New Britain with just one out. Gythfeldt made his presence felt once again, ripping an RBI single to right field to score Civitello and move the runners over. A walk by Swarts then scored Rogers, making the score 5-4 and giving the Bees their first lead of the evening.

They would add onto this in the bottom of the seventh, with an RBI double from Civitello and a sacrifice fly off the bat of catcher Brady Chernovetz (Southern CT State/Wallingford, CT)–a play that should’ve resulted in an out at home plate, but thanks to first baseman Ben Kuja’s (Brandeis/Madison, CT) dodge that rivaled Neo from The Matrix–increased the Bee’s lead to 7-4, with the momentum seemingly shifting to the home team.

New Britain got through the top of the eighth inning with no damage done, and an extreme case of flashing the leather (seriously, check out SportsCenter’s Top 10) by Civitello to take away a hit from Westfield had the Bees faithful thinking their win streak would keep burning. Unfortunately, this was the last thing they had to cheer about.

Manager Matt Gedman called upon pitcher Dominic Carollo (Salve Regina/West Warwick, RI) to close the game out for the Bees in the top of the ninth. Tragedy then struck. The Starfires immediately got on base, ripping consecutive singles and working a walk to juice the bases with only one out. An error allowed two runs to score. Then, just one batter later, the Bees saw their lead evaporate, after a two-out single rewarded Westfield with an additional two runs, making the score 8-7 in favor of the visitors. The Starfires tacked on another run to cap off their five-run inning, suddenly giving them a two-run cushion and putting the Bees’ backs against the wall.

The bottom of the ninth still gave New Britain the opportunity to atone for their sins and eke out a win. This opportunity was squandered. After scoring a run off an RBI single by Schopps, the bases were loaded with two outs. Hoping to recreate the walk-off magic the Bees had Wednesday, Gythfeldt stepped up to the plate. Fate was not as kind this time around, as he grounded out to end the ballgame.

It’s a brutal loss for New Britain and one they no doubt wish they could have back. A game that once seemed very much in their control was snatched away from them in just a half-inning. They will look to have short memories heading into their matchup against the Norwich Sea Unicorns tonight at 6:35 p.m., capping off this eight-game home stretch.