BURLINGTON – For the first time in franchise history, the New Britain Bees are Futures League Champions!
The Bees went up to Centennial Field on Sunday and defeated the Vermont Lake Monsters in the winner take all Game 3 of the FCBL Championship by a score of 11-0, the second time that New Britain won by that exact score in the series.
FCBL Championship MVP Tim Hennig (Binghamton/Wantagh, NY) starred once again, blasting his second home run of the series and finishing the championship with a .364 average, 2 HR, and a triple. His college teammate Owen Rich (Binghamton/Wallingford, CT) had a historic day at the plate, going 5-5 in Game 3 with three doubles, three RBI, and four runs scored. Rich’s three doubles set a record for most doubles in a single FCBL postseason game.
On the mound, Garret Garbinski (UConn/Clinton, CT) ended his dominant-two summer stretch with perhaps his best outing in a New Britain uniform. The right hander tossed seven scoreless innings and gave up just three hits while striking out seven. Thomas Harding (St. John’s/Massapequa, NY) threw the final two innings in relief, going six up, six down and finishing his postseason with seven hitless innings.
Garbinski and Harding combined to retire the final 17 Lake Monsters in order after a single in the fourth inning. In the series as a whole, Bees pitchers had a microscopic 0.33 ERA. Vermont hit .140 in the series and had just two extra base hits.
The Bees hit .277 for the series and outscored the Lake Monsters 22-1, the largest run differential in FCBL Championship history.