Bees Head into All-Star Break on High Note

Written by: Drew Mals (@MalsDrew)  

(NEW BRITAIN, CT) – The New Britain Bees head into the All-star break on a high note after defeating the Westfield Starfires, 8-3, at New Britain Stadium on Sunday for one of the hottest games of the summer.  

Westfield got off to a quick start when they were able to put up three runs against New Britain’s Andrew Jergins (Georgetown/Tampa, FL) giving the Starfires a early 3-0 lead in the first.    

New Britain slowly chipped away at Westfield’s lead. Matthew Bradbury (ECSU/Sandy Hook, CT) hit a pop fly behind second base, but the second baseman was unable to catch it allowing Jason Claiborn (ECSU/Prospect, CT) to score on an E4. The Bees cut the Starfires lead to 3-1.  

Zach Donahue (ECSU/South Windsor, CT), a Bee veteran, came up with a big single in the third that scored Tyler Pettorini (Ohio State/Wooster, OH). The Bees only trailed 3-2 after three innings.  

Westfield’s bats would go cold as they were held to just one hit after the second inning.  

The Bees bats were buzzing in the middle innings as they plated three runs in the bottom of the fourth. Mike Torniero (CCSU/East haven, CT) tied the ballgame with a bloop single into left field that allowed Gavin Greger (UConn/Bristol, CT) to score.  

Two batters later, Pettorini drove in Matt DeRosa (Quinnipiac/North Haven, CT) as the Bees took their first lead of the game, 4-3. Pettorini extended his hitting streak to fourteen games.  

Mark Coley (Rhode Island/Bloomfield, CT) added another run in the fourth on a sac-fly that scored Torniero giving the Bees a 5-3 lead after four innings.  

One inning later, DeRosa ripped a two run double down the third base line that scored Claiborn and Greger, extending the Bees lead to 7-3. DeRosa ended the day going 3-for-4 with two runs-batted-in and one run.  

New Britain would score the game's last run in the fifth when Pettorini hit a sac-fly to center field that plated Bradbury, giving the Bees a 8-3 lead over the Starfires.  

The Ohio State product Pettorini would finish the game reaching base four times going 2-for-2 with one run, two runs-batted-in and two stolen bases.  

New Britain relievers Chris Benton (Holy Cross/Southport, CT), Mike Marella (Fairfield/Monroe, CT) and C.J. Brito-Trinidad (Bowdoin/South Kent, CT) combined for seven innings of one hit baseball, allowing zero runs while punching out six Starfire batters.  

Benton would earn himself the win. Brito-Trinidad, who started the game at second base, would earn himself the rare three inning save.  

The Bees will be back in action, Wednesday July 27th at 6:30 P.M. to take on in-state rival Norwich Sea Unicorns.  

WP - Benton  LP - Aceto  S - Brito-Trinidad (1)