By Connor Wilson

NEW BRITAIN, CT - The fireworks came a little early on this Fourth of July Weekend as the New Britain Bees defeated the Pittsfield Suns 11-10 thanks to a walk-off home run from Jimmy Keenan (St. John’s/White Plains, NY) on Saturday night at New Britain Stadium.

Keenan’s game winning blast was his second longball of the night, as he tattooed one over the left field wall leading off the bottom of the eighth to start a rally.

The Bees were down all throughout the game, trailing by as many as six runs in the sixth inning. Four run frames in the bottom of the sixth and eighth fueled the comeback and eventual victory.

Jared Kuryan (Western New England/Madison, CT) took the ball for the Bees in his first home outing since his Father’s Day no-hitter. He didn’t have his best stuff against the Suns and finished with a final line of 4 IP, 6 R, 6 H, 2 BB, and 3 Ks.

After Pittsfield scored twice out of the gates in the first, New Britain countered with two of their own highlighted by an RBI single from Mike Torniero (CCSU/East Haven, CT).

The Bees didn’t score again until the sixth when they found themselves down 8-2. Three RBI singles by Brady Short (CCSU/Hurley, NY), Jake Given (UMass Amherst/Boulder, CO) and Ryan Taylor (Penn/Elmer, NJ) helped trim the deficit to just two at 8-6 going into the seventh.

The biggest difference in the ballgame was on the defensive side, as the Suns committed five errors compared to the Bees committing none. Only four of the 11 runs all night were earned runs.

After Pittsfield tacked on two more in the top of the eighth, Keenan’s first homer and Chris Einemann’s (Molloy/Lynbrook, NY) RBI double followed by a run-scoring fielder’s choice for Torniero made it 10-9. Freddy Forgione (SUNY Maritime/Ronkonkowa, NY) dunked a game tying single over the head of the third baseman to knot it up at 10.

Ethan Lewis (Yale/Golden, CO) came on in the ninth and threw a scoreless inning, notching himself his second win of the season.

With one out in the bottom of the ninth, Keenan took the sixth pitch he saw and crushed it well beyond the 400 foot marker in dead center to clinch the game for the Bees.

His two home runs puts Keenan in sole possession for the team lead near the midpoint of the season with four now on the year, which puts him tied for third in the Futures League.