Righi’s Walk-Off Lifts New Britain in Game 1 of 2025 Championship Series

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CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE & RESULTS:
No. 3 New Britain Bees vs. No. 4 Norwich Sea Unicorns
Wednesday, August 13: at New Britain 1, Norwich 0 (10)
Friday, August 15: 6:30 p.m. at Senator Thomas J. Dodd Memorial Stadium, Norwich, Conn.
Saturday, August 16 (if necessary): TBA at New Britain Stadium, New Britain, Conn.

NEW BRITAIN, Conn. — All it took was one for the New Britain Bees.

Right fielder Camden Righi (UConn) hit a walk-off single with one out in the bottom of the 10th inning to break a scoreless tie and propel third-seeded New Britain to a 1-0 win over the fourth-seeded Norwich Sea Unicorns in Wednesday night's opening game of the best-of-three Futures League Championship Series at New Britain Stadium.

The reigning Gatorade Player of the Year in Connecticut, Righi knocked the game-winning single up the middle to score left fielder Jake Risedorf (Southern New Hampshire) and highlight a 2-for-4 performance from the leadoff spot in the batting order. Risedorf hit a leadoff single to right and reached third on Julius Rosado's (Rutgers) double onto the center-field warning track before an intentional walk loaded the bases to set up Righi.

An 88-minute rain delay before first pitch did not throw off Norwich starting pitcher Brendan Grady (Trinity) and New Britain counterpart Ben Oliveira (Wheaton), who worked 13 scoreless frames to begin the first 1-0 game in the Futures League Postseason since 2015. 

Both offenses recorded five hits apiece. The Bees overcame being no-hit for the first 6.2 innings to take the win, setting up the opportunity to win their first championship in their first appearance since joining the league in 2020 when the series shifts to Dodd Stadium in Norwich for a 6:30 p.m. first pitch on Friday. 

Norwich had multiple opportunities to score against Oliveira in the early going, including in the first when second baseman CJ Nolan (Sacred Heart) led off the game with a single, stole second and reached third before designated hitter Bryce Detwiler (UConn) struck out to end the inning. Oliveira stranded four total baserunners through the first three innings.

Oliveira pitched 1-2-3 frames in the fourth and fifth before working out of a two-on, two-out jam in the sixth to finish his outing. The second-year Bee scattered five hits and walked one while striking out four in six innings. 

Grady, meanwhile, allowed just one hit and one walk in a solid seven-inning start after facing the minimum through the first 4.2. Righi drew a leadoff walk in the fourth to become New Britain's first baserunner, but Norwich's middle infield duo of Nolan and Charlie Walsh (George Washington) turned an inning-ending double play behind the left-hander.

After Oliveira exited the game, the New Britain bullpen did great work to help set the stage for the walk-off, as Braden Young (Wheaton), Evan Mello (Wheaton) and Jake Harmony (Endicott) worked a combined four hitless innings at the end of the game. Harmony issued a one-out walk in the 10th, but induced a flyout and a grounder to end another Norwich threat and eventually earn the win.

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