The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
New Britain, CT – The Somerset Patriots (39-31, 77-63) punctuated a tremendous regular season by defeating the New Britain Bees (71-69, 35-35) 13-6 Sunday afternoon at New Britain Stadium. The Patriots overcame a 4-0 deficit after six innings to tally their 42nd come from behind win of the year. Somerset tied a season-high in runs (13) and hits (20) as nine different players recorded at least one hit.
“It’s the last game of the regular season so we all came out loose and relaxed,” said Yovan Gonzalez, who finished 5-for-5 with two RBI. “It’s all about having fun. This will definitely give us momentum to when the big games start which is on Wednesday.”
For the third straight year the Patriots amassed the best overall record in the Atlantic League.
The Bees struck for two in the first inning via a two-run double by Craig Maddox. They would add two more in the third via solo home runs by Jake McGuiggan (4) and Jovan Rosa (13)
The Patriots scored all of their runs in the final three innings. The offensive onslaught began with a Bryan LaHair two-run single in the seventh inning.
With the Patriots trailing 4-2 after seven innings, the offense continued to churn as they totaled eight runs on six hits in the eighth inning. Gonzalez slugged a two-run double, Vinny Zarrillo blooped a two-run single while Kyle Roller launched a two-run home run (10). Two additional runs were accounted for via a wild pitch and a Josh Mazzola RBI sacrifice fly.
New Britain received solo home runs from Michael Crouse (10) and Nick Murphy (1) in the ensuing half inning to cut the deficit to 10-6.
Somerset tacked on three more runs in the ninth inning to make the score 13-6, which would be the final. Rob Kral cranked a home run (4), Scott Kelly ripped an RBI double, and LaHair hammered a run scoring single.
“We feel real good about ourselves heading into the postseason,” Gonzalez remarked. “We have all the pieces now it’s just about us putting it all together. We are excited and it will be fun.”
Rich Mascheri (1-0) earned the win tossing a scoreless inning. Eric Fornataro (1-5) sustained the loss. He yielded eight runs in one inning.
The 2016 Somerset Patriots season presented by Ford continues Wednesday, September 21st when the team returns home for Game One of the Liberty Division Series as they host the Long Island Ducks at 7:05 p.m. For tickets, call 908-252-0700 or visit www.somersetpatriots.com. Download our Mobile App for free in the Apple or Android App store.
