By Connor Wilson

NEW BRITAIN, CT - Playing in their first home game since the All-Star festivities, the New Britain Bees defeated their in-state rival Norwich Sea Unicorns 6-5 on Friday night at New Britain Stadium.

Dylan Scudder (Eastern CT State/Simsbury, CT) got the start for New Britain. The right hander went five innings allowing four runs (three earned), five hits and two walks while striking out five.  Scudder struggled with his control at times and allowed two runs on wild pitches.

The Bees got on the board first in the bottom of the second as an RBI triple from Gavin Greger (Bryant/Bristol, CT) scored Jimmy Keenan (St. John’s/White Plains, NY) to make it 1-0.

Norwich didn’t wait long to counter as the Sea Unicorns put up three runs in the top of the third to take a 3-1 lead.

The Sea Unicorns added another run in the top of the fifth to go up 4-1, but the Bees responded by scoring a run of their own as Tanner Santos (Babson College/Bethany, CT) laced a two-out triple and scored on a Jeff Nichol (CCSU/Wolcott, CT) RBI single that made it 4-2.

After Norwich scored again in the sixth to go up 5-2, New Britain answered back in the seventh when Greger blasted the first pitch he saw over the right field wall for a solo home run to make it 5-3. The homer was Greger’s second of the season.

The Bees flashed the leather once again Friday night, as Jamie Palmese (East Tennessee St/Berlin, CT) made yet another highlight play just days after appearing on SportsCenter in the SCTop10 for his diving catch.

After Esteban Rivera III (Franklin Pierce/Hamden, CT) came on and threw a scoreless eighth, Keenan and Freddy Forgione (SUNY Maritime/Ronkonkoma, NY) drew back-to-back walks to put the tying runs on base with one out.

Seeing what’s at stake as the season dwindles down and how important each win is, manager Matt Gedman elected to go to a pinch hitter in Christian Scanlon (Merrimack/West Haven, CT) in a big spot. Scanlon delivered as he crushed a no-doubt home run to right field to put the Bees up 6-5.

Scanlon’s homer was his fourth of the season and third against the Sea Unicorns. He is batting .750 (9-12) this season against Norwich with three home runs and 14 RBIs in four games.

Brian Hart (Hofstra/Queens, NY) came on for the save in the ninth and struck out the side to pick up his fourth save and clinch a much needed win for the Bees after dropping two games yesterday in Pittsfield.

Scanlon’s blast is the second go-ahead three run shot in as many home games for the Bees, as Billy Minett (St. Thomas Aquinas/Staten Island, NY) did the same in the eighth inning on Sunday against Vermont.

The Bees are back in action tomorrow as they play the second of three straight games against the Sea Unicorns as they travel to Norwich for the next two contests. The next home game at New Britain Stadium is Wednesday when the Bees host the Suns at 6:35 p.m.