Written by Ethan Hudson
NEW BRITAIN – The New Britain Bees bested the Lowell Spinners 9-3 at home, igniting a two-game win streak and improving their record to 26-18. The Bees put on an offensive clinic all night long, allowing them to secure one of their most dominant victories of the month.
The Spinners got on the board in the opening inning, after their leadoff hitter singled to center field and immediately advanced to third after the next batter singled. A sacrifice fly sent the runner home, and it was a 1-0 ballgame after the top of the first inning. Although Lowell got off to a fast start, New Britain got off to an even faster one, perhaps still fueled by the pandemonium that ensued at this very stadium last night.
The leadoff hitter Deacon Brown (St. John’s/Williamsport, PA), fresh off a trip to the all-star game, singled to center. He advanced to second when Nico Amecangelo (LaSalle/Red Bank, NJ) was hit by a pitch. Michael Olender (Lehigh/Flemington, NJ) slapped a double down the left field line, scoring Brown and giving him his first RBI of the season. Then came Tim Hennig (Binghamton/Wantagh, NY), another Bees all-star, who ripped a two-RBI double to right—his seventh hit in his last four games—to make the game 3-1. Before the inning came to a close, Jace Dunn (Elon/Eden, NC) came through with an RBI single, boosting the Bees to an early 4-1 lead after one inning of play.
The Spinners would cut the deficit to just one run in the top of the fourth inning with a two-run home run over the left field wall. However, when the Bees take a punch to the face, they have a tendency to hit back even harder. In the bottom of the fourth, New Britain did just that. After Brown walked, Amecangelo laced a double to get a run back. Finally, in an eerily similar picture to last night, he advanced to third and then scored on back-to-back wild pitches, giving the Bees a 6-3 advantage.
The game began to get away from the Spinners in the bottom of the sixth inning. After a series of walks, hit by pitch, and of course, a wild pitch, New Britain had the bases juiced. Olender worked a walk, sending in a run for the Bees. The bottom half of the inning concluded shortly after Hennig hit a sacrifice fly to right field, driving in another run and granting New Britain a very comfortable 8-3 lead.
The offensive output did not end there. In the bottom of the seventh inning, Myles Gythfeldt (Lafayette/Ridgefield, CT) knocked an RBI single to right, scoring Dunn to make the game 9-3 and adding a cherry on top to an impressive Bees showing.
New Britain will travel to their cross-town rival in the Norwich Sea Unicorns on Saturday at 6:35 p.m., where they look to extend their winning streak to three games and keep their bats hot.