NORWICH, Conn. (July 23, 2024) 一 Highlighted by award-winning performances by two members of the hometown Norwich Sea Unicorns, Team Rose City beat Team Three Rivers 9-1 in the 2024 Futures League All-Star Game at Senator Thomas J. Dodd Memorial Stadium on Tuesday night.
After a record crowd watched the 2023 game at Centennial Field in Burlington, Vt., the Norwich faithful showed out with 3,159 fans filing into Dodd as the ballpark hosted the Futures League All-Star Game for the first time since the Sea Unicorns moved to the league in 2021.
Team Rose City scored three runs in the second inning and never looked back, adding offense in four more innings and totaling 11 hits en route to the win.
The early inning featured three RBI by a Sea Unicorns duo, as second baseman Nick Tomasetto (Rutgers) hit a two-out RBI single before left fielder AJ Soldra (Seton Hall) hit a two-run double to right field that punctuated his Most Valuable Player performance.
Westfield Starfires center fielder Gianno Merlonghi (Central Connecticut State) also had a strong performance for Team Rose City, posting an RBI and run scored after a first-inning double that marked the first hit for either side. However, the Worcester Bravehearts’ Brady Stuart (Endicott) and Vermont Lake Monsters’ Wyatt Cameron (Central Connecticut State) were both able to post scoreless innings in their starts.
Norwich outfielder Christian Stratis (UAB) and Westfield first baseman Aidan Redahan (Central Connecticut State) and third baseman Trey Cruz (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi) also drove in runs for Team Rose City. Redahan hit a pair of singles.
A ninth-inning groundout by Futures League Road Warriors left fielder Nick Pappas (Bentley) scored Nashua Silver Knights first baseman Nate Kearney (Stonehill) with the lone Team Three Rivers run.
Most Outstanding Pitcher honors went to Norwich’s Liam Carroll (New Haven), who dealt two scoreless, one-hit innings. The New Britain Bees’ Connor Willett (Eastern Connecticut State) pitched a 1-2-3 fourth inning with two strikeouts for Team Rose City, while the Nashua Silver Knights’ Derek Woods (Colby) and Kyan Bagshaw (Endicott) also fanned a pair in their scoreless frames for Team Three Rivers.
The All-Star Experience festivities kicked off on Monday night with Worcester Bravehearts first baseman Jackson Marshall (Southern New Hampshire) edging out the New Britain Bees’ Gabriel Tirado (UConn) to win the Home Run Derby.
A rising freshman for the Penmen, Marshall totaled 10 homers across the three-round competition, clinching the winner as time expired in a two-minute championship round with one of his several deep drives to left and left-center field. Players from Connecticut’s Norwich Sea Unicorns and New Britain Bees had won the Derby in back-to-back years previously.
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