Bees Win on Walk-Off Home Run

By Drew Mals (@MalsDrew)

NEW BRITAIN—The New Britain Bees defeated the Pittsfield Suns, 6-5, courtesy of a Tyler Pettorini (Ohio State) walk-off home run in a Futures Collegiate Baseball League game at New Britain Stadium Wednesday night. Pittsfield got out to an early 1-0 lead when Rob Taylor (New Haven) hit a sac-fly to right field that scored Bo Bramer (Fordham).

New Britain knotted things up in the second when Elliot Good (Central Connecticut State) hit into a fielder’s choice that scored Tyler Pettorini (Ohio State). The Bees took a 2-1 lead in the third on a base hit into left field from Jason Claiborn (Eastern Connecticut State) that drove in Jeff Nicol (Central Connecticut State).

Pettorini drove in his 21st run of the campaign when he knocked in Claiborn (Eastern) in the sixth to make it 3-1, New Britain.

The Bees had control most of the game until the eighth when Pittsfield was able to put up three runs when Pittsfield’s Matt Ryan (University of Maryland Baltimore County) hit a single into right field that scored Brennan Hyde (Nichols), Anton Lazits and Taylor (New Haven) giving the Suns a 4-3 lead. Taylor scored on an overthrow from Mark Coley (Rhode Island).

Coley redeemed himself when he hit a game-tying home run that even the game up at 4-4. The Bees took the lead when Good drove in Colton Shaw (Yale) on a sacrifice fly to right field giving the Bees a 5-4 lead heading into the ninth.

The game kept going back and forth in the late innings as Mike Marella (Fairfield) surrendered the game tying run to Pittsfield as Bramer knocked in Jack Ryan (UMBC).

The Bees were held scoreless in the ninth sending the game to extra innings. Marella was able to make quick work of the Suns, sitting them down one-two-three. Then, in the bottom of the 10th, it took just one batter for New Britain to finish of the game off as Pettorini absolutely crushed a walk-off homer into the night as Bees came out on top after some late inning fireworks.

The Bees are back in action Thursday night at home taking on the Norwich Sea Unicorns for the last matchup between the two Connecticut FCBL teams. It’s Thirsty Thursday presented by Pabst Blue Ribbon at New Britain Stadium with $2 Pabst Blue Ribbons available to fans 21 and older.

The Futures League is a summer circuit consisting of collegiate baseball players—primarily from area colleges and universities. Established in 2011, the Futures League is modeled after the Cape Cod League offering a friendly, fan-friendly environment mirroring the style of a minor league season, with games played from late May through August. The FCBL has garnered the reputation of being one of the most talented and competitive amateur baseball leagues in the country over its first decade of play with more than 150 of its players having been drafted by MLB organizations.

WP—Marella LP—Lazitz

Sun Stymie Mercury

By Bob Phillips

UNCASVILLE—Alyssa Thomas posted her second triple-double in less 11 days to lead the Connecticut Sun to an 97-63 victory over the Phoenix Mercury 87-63 before 6,130 fans at the Mohegan Sun Arena on Tuesday night. Thomas, who recorded her first triple-double in a win over the Minnesota Lynx on July 22, finished with 10 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists. The No. 4 pick overall in the 2014 draft, the 6-2 Thomas is just the fifth WNBA player with multiple triple-doubles. She joins Candace Parker (Chicago Sky) and Sabrina Ionescu (New York Liberty) as the only players with more than one this season.

Natisha Hiedeman led the Sun in scoring with a 16-point effort. In all, seven Connecticut players scored in double digits—Thomas, Heideman, had 16 points to lead seven Connecticut players scoring in double figures joining DiJonai Carrington and DeWanna Bonner (12 points each), and Brionna Jones (11). In addition, Jonquel Jones, who has made a career out of putting up double-doubles, had another one on Tuesday with 10 points and 10 boards. It was only the 12thh time in WNBA history that seven or more players registered double-digit points in the same game. The Sun have done it three times.

The Mercury jumped out to an early 13-8 lead when Shey Peddy scored with 3:44 remaining in the first quarter. But the Sun turned up the defensive heat at that point and shut the Phoenix offense down for the next seven-plus minutes. The Mercury closed out the opening period with a 5-0 run to knot the score at 13-13 at the first turn.

Brionna Jones opened the second quarter with a layup to stake Connecticut to a 15-13 advantage, and the Sun would not relinquish that lead for the rest of the contest.

Former UConn nemesis Skylar Diggins-Smith and Sophie Cunningham scored 15 points apiece for Phoenix and Kaela Davis added 10. The Mercury, who fell to 13-18, now have dropped two straight games to fall a game behind Dallas for sixth place in the overall WNBA standings. Eight teams will qualify for the postseason.

UConn legend Diana Taurasi appeared to be dinged up and did not score. She was 0-for-6 from the field (including 0-for-4 from downtown) and turned the ball over four times. On the plus side, DT grabbed five rebounds—all off the defensive glass.

Sun Sign Sims

The Sun announced on Wednesday that the team has signed Odyssey Sims to a seven-day contract. Sims, drafted second overall in the 2014 WNBA Draft, has played in the league for eight seasons with Tulsa, Dallas, Los Angeles, Minnesota and Atlanta. In May, she re-signed with the Lynx and appeared in two games before being released. Throughout her238-game WNBA career, the former Baylor standout has averaged 12.3 points, 2.7 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.1 steals per game. While at Baylor she became the program’s all-time leader in assists (with 572) and three-point field goals made (223). She will wear No. 1 for Connecticut and will be available to play on day when the Sun and Mercury play their second game of the week.

Sun Spots

* With one steal in Tuesday’s contest, Alyssa Thomas moved into third all-time in steals in Connecticut Sun franchise history, tying Taj McWilliams-Franklin with 350 takeaways.

* AT notched her second triple-double of the season with 10 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists. She also passed the 800-assist mark in tonight’s win, now having dished out 804 in her career.

* With four rebounds, Courtney Williams is now tied with Chiney Ogwumike for ninth all-time in rebounding in Connecticut Sun history, with 712 rebounds.

* Connecticut finished the night shooting 45.9% (34-74), while holding Phoenix to 35.9% (23-64) from the field.

Bueckers Lost for Season With Torn ACL

STORRS—The UConn women’s basketball season took an enormous hit today when the school announced that junior guard Paige Bueckers, an favorite to earn National Player of the Year accolades for the second straight year, has torn her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and will be sidelined for the entire 2002-23 season.

The 5-11 guard from Edina, MN sustained the injury during a pick-up basketball game and underwent an MRI Monday evening to confirm the injury. She will undergo surgery on Friday at UConn Health. An update on her recovery timetable will be made available following the procedure. Bueckers was a unanimas first-team All-America selection las season and earned AP Player of the Year, USBWA National Player of the Year, and Naismith College Player of the Year along with the John R. Wooden and Nancy Lieberman Awards.

“We’re all devastated for Paige,” said UConn women’s basketball head coach Geno Auriemma. “She’s worked really hard to get stronger and healthier this offseason, and this is an unfortunate setback. Paige is obviously an amazing basketball player but she’s a better person and teammate and it’s really unfortunate that this has happened to her. We’ll miss her presence on the court, but she’ll do everything she can to still lead and help her teammates this season. Our program will support Paige through her healing process to help her come back better and stronger.”