By Brendan Lasbury

(New Britain, Conn.) The New Britain Bees lost Game 1 of their doubleheader against the top-seeded Worcester Bravehearts, 7-5 on Saturday afternoon at New Britain Stadium.

The Bees would start earlier than usual, with the doubleheader pushing the game back up to 4:35 p.m. Jack Sheldon (Fairfield/Simsbury, CT) would get the start on the mound for New Britain, his third start with the Bees this year.

The Bravehearts struck right away in the top of the first, as a walk followed by two hard hit doubles off the wall made it 2-0 in favor of the visitors.

The Bees would strike back quickly at the bottom of the inning, where Tim Hennig (Binghamton University/Wantagh, NY) rocketed a leadoff triple off the wall in center, after which Carlos Irizarry (Penn State Harrisburg/Chantilly, VA) would drive him in with an RBI groundout. Then, Colin Crowley (Winthrop University/Southington, CT), Caleb Miller (Union College/Rome, NY) and Jake Risedorf (Southern New Hampshire/Barkhamsted, CT) would all work walks, loading the bases with one out.

 

This set up J.T. Clark (Eastern CT State/Bristol, CT), who would hit a sac fly into center to brought home Crowley. Then a wild pitch brought home Miller, cementing an action packed first inning with a 3-2 Bees lead.

The Bravehearts response didn’t take long, as in the top of the third, they worked three straight two out walks, scoring a pair of runs on a single to left and one more on throwing error to make it 5-3.

But like a great boxing match, the Bees counterpunched right after in the bottom of the inning. Irizarry and Crowley would works walks and, after a pitching change by Worcester, J. Risedorf would join them, loading the bases. Clark would again step up, flying out to right field to bring home Irizarry, and Bennett Crerar (Princeton University/Cheshire, CT) would single into left field to bring home Crowley, tying the game up at 5-5.

Worcester once again got things going in the top of the 5th. A walk, single and another walk loaded the bases and caused a New Britain pitching change, subbing Adam Merritt (UMass Amherst/West Hartford, CT) for Colin Blake (Southern CT State/Wallingford, CT). Then a single and a wild pitch would bring home two, ending the inning with a 7-5 Worcester lead.

That would be it for the offensive explosion, as both teams would be held scoreless for the rest of the seven inning game. The Bees fell to 17-21, staying in fourth place in the Futures League. Meanwhile, the Bravehearts continued their dominance at the top of the league, rising to 28-10.

Both teams would face off again later in the day, with Worcester winning over New Britain by a score of 2-1.

Next up for the Bees will be a trip to Holman Stadium to face off against the Nashua Silver Knights. First pitch is set for 3 p.m.