The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
Bridgewater, NJ – The Somerset Patriots (36-28) defeated the New Britain Bees (30-33) 4-1 at TD Bank Ballpark in their first-ever meeting in Bridgewater on Monday evening.
The Patriots jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the second inning. Carlos Guzman led off with a single, Matt Fields drew a walk, and Scott Kelly was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Vinny Zarrillo then cleared the bases with a triple down the right field line. Mycal Jones followed with a sacrifice fly to bring home Zarrillo.
“Coming up with bases loaded, I wanted to come through to give us an early lead and some momentum for the rest of the game,” said Zarrillo. “I got a good pitch to hit and I came through and it felt pretty good.”
The Bees made it a 4-1 game on a solo home run by Michael Crouse (2) in the third inning.
Patriots starting pitcher Rudy Owens (1-1) picked up the win, allowing just one run and striking out eight in seven strong innings pitched.
“I had to go out there and get them out early and often. I made some good pitches down in the zone. [Rob] Kral and I got on a pretty good page for a while. We were able to get out of some big innings with some double plays and the defense did a great job behind me,” said Owens.
Bees starting pitcher Kyle Simon (2-2) suffered the loss, allowing four earned runs on seven hits in seven innings pitched. Jon Hunton earned his 16th save of the season with a scoreless ninth inning pitched.
With the win, and the Long Island Ducks loss, the Patriots move back into first place in the Liberty Division first half standings by one game.
The 2016 Somerset Patriots season presented by Ford continues at home on Tuesday, June 28th with a 7:05 pm game against the New Britain Bees. The game features Bark In The Park Night with Frisbees (1st 300 Dogs) presented by FOSRAS. For tickets, call 908-252-0700 or visit www.somersetpatriots.com. Download our Mobile App for free in the Apple or Android App store.
