Sea Unicorns hold off Bravehearts, close in on first place

The five-team race for first place in the Futures League tightened up on Tuesday night. While the league-leading Westfield Starfires lost to Nashua, the defending champion Norwich Sea Unicorns held off the Worcester Bravehearts, 7-6, at Dodd Stadium to move into a virtual tie with Westfield atop the league standings.

The Starfires (14-9, .609) are just percentage points ahead of the Sea Unicorns (15-10, .600). New Britain (14-11), which swept the Futures League Road Warriors on Tuesday, are a close third, followed by the Vermont Lake Monsters (12-11) and Worcester (13-12).

The Sea Unicorns built a 5-0 lead against the Bravehearts behind the pitching of Andrew Rondini (Rutgers) and Jack Ohlman (Yale). Rondini, who lowered his league-leading ERA to 0.45, allowed just two hits and struck out five while blanking Worcester over five innings. Ohlman pitched two scoreless relief innings with three strikeouts.

The Bravehearts mounted a late comeback by scoring four runs in the eighth inning and two in the ninth before Jimmy Mulvaney (Fairfield) came in with the tying run on second base and notched a game-ending strikeout for his third save.

Brennan Hyde and AJ Soldra (NJIT) each went 3-for-5 with two RBIs to pace the Sea Unicorns offense. The duo each had RBI singles in the bottom of the eighth to give Norwich a 7-4 cushion.

Hyde is second in the league with 18 RBIs. The former Nichols star who was a big part of the Sea Unicorns championship season last summer will be playing at Rutgers next season for his final year of eligibility.

Lane joins Sea Unicorns

Connor Lane, the Gatorade Connecticut Baseball Player of the Year, made his debut with the Sea Unicorns on June 8 against the Brockton Rox. After going 0-for-12 following his high school season with Old Saybrook, Lane notched his first hit as a Sea Unicorns with a sixth inning single to center against Worcester on Tuesday night at Dodd Stadium.

Lane, a 6-3, 210-pound catcher, will attend and play at UConn in the fall.

Lane batted .509 with four home runs, 27 runs and 16 steals this past season for Old Saybrook High School. He had a .659 on-base percentage and a 1.553 OPS. He also went 3-3 on the mound with one save, posting a 0.83 ERA with 68 strikeouts in 33.2 innings pitched.

A two-time All-State selection entering the season, Lane is ranked as the No. 4 prospect in the Class of 2024 by the New England Prep Baseball Report.

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July fireworks

The Sea Unicorns are back at Dodd on Friday, June 28 to host the Westfield Starfires.

From July 3 to July 20, the Sea Unicorns will play 12 home games at Dodd, starting with a five-game homestand. The busy month includes hosting the league’s Home Run Derby (July 22) and All-Star Game (July 23).

On July 3, the Sea Unicorns will kick off the long Fourth of July weekend with postgame fireworks following the game against the Nashua Silver Knights. With this additional date, the Sea Unicorns will have six regular season fireworks shows as well as fireworks following the Futures League All Star Game on Tuesday, July 23.

There will also be fireworks on July 12 (Road Warriors) and Aug. 2 (Lake Monsters).

First Responders Night

The Sea Unicorns annual First Responder Night is set for Friday, July 12. The Sea Unicorns host the Road Warriors at 6:30 p.m.

Once again partnering with Hartford Healthcare’s Backus and Windham Hospitals, the Sea Unicorns will offer discounted tickets for all first responders. The $8 reserved ticket will include a hot dog, bottle of water and bag of chips and can be purchased by visiting or calling the Dodd Stadium ticket office during normal business hours (Monday-Friday from 9 a.m.- to 5 p.m.). Following the game there will be a spectacular post-game fireworks show presented by Liberty Bank.

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Bike Night

The Norwich Sea Unicorns have partnered with Attorney John Haymond to bring “A Reason To Ride” Bike Night to Dodd Stadium on Wednesday, July 31 as part of the Sea Unicorns home game against the New Britain Bees.

Riders can enter their bikes into a contest to win prizes and proceeds from the special entry fee (that includes a ticket to the game) will go to help needy veterans. For more details, please reach out to KC Collins via email at kc@goseaunicorns.com

All-Star Game lineup

The Futures League All Star Experience takes place at Dodd Stadium on Monday (July 22) and Tuesday (July 23).

Monday’s lineup includes: a First Responder Game featuring first responders from Norwich against Windham (more details to come including the game time); Futures League Home Run Derby; and Post Derby Concert (more details to come).

Tuesday’s lineup includes: Future League All Stars Batting Practice and Autograph Sessions (Times TBA); Futures League All Star Game (7 p.m.); and Post All Star Game Fireworks Spectacular.

This article originally appeared on The Bulletin: Sea Unicorns hold off Bravehearts, close in on first place