UnBEElievable Opening Night for Baseball
By Robin Vinci | Editor at April 29, 2024 | 9:30 am | Print
With a crowd of 4,617 the New Britain Bees opened up it’s inaugural season April 21.
“Thank you all for joining us tonight,” Mayor Erin Stewart told the crowd after throwing out the first pitch. “We are so happy to have dedicated fans and an awesome team that is going to be a great addition to the City of New Britain.”
“We are back in town,” said Bees Manager Stu Cliburn who caught the Mayor’s pitch. “It’s great to see so many people come out for opening night. We have a beautiful stadium. Let’s enjoy baseball here in New Britain.”
For New Britain resident Geri O’Keefe-Curtis it was a special night as she was the first person through the door. She arrived about 4:45 p.m. and was honored with a special photo taken with General Manager Pat Day and other Bees management.
“They thanked me for coming,” said Curtis who sat behind home plate. “I was very excited to see the local guys playing. I intend to go to more games especially when there are collector pins.”
The game for the Bees didn’t go as planned as the York Revolution scored twice in the first inning. However, the first pitch thrown in Bees’ franchise history was a strike.
Making the first start in Bees’ history was left handed pitcher Josh Outman. He held the Revolution to 3 runs in 5 innings of work despite battling with his command all game. The veteran left-hander struck out 4. Middletown native Shawn Haviland worked 4 innings in relief of Outman, striking out 5 and allowing just 1 run on two hits.
Jovan Rosa tripled in the fourth to drive in the first run in Bees’ history.
In the bottom half of the eighth inning, the Bees were helped out by two wild pitches and an RBI single by first baseman Jon Griffin. The Bees also stole three bases in the game, with two coming from outfielder Greg Golson.
The Bees lost 4-3.
The Bees first ever win came in game two on Friday night.
Behind the arms of Connecticut native Nick Greenwood, Grady Wood, and Craig Stem, the New Britain Bees shut out the York Revolution 1-0.
In his first start of the season, the left-handed Greenwood tossed six scoreless innings, allowing just one walk and striking out seven. Wood (two innings) and Stem (a scoreless 9th) combined to keep the Revolution off the scoreboard over the final three innings.
Despite managing just 3 hits, the Bees scored just enough to support their strong pitching. New Britain scored its only run of the game on a sacrifice fly off the bat of outfielder Jon Jones in the bottom half of the third inning, driving in Anthony Hewitt.
The final play of the game was a wild one, with the Bees the benefactors. After getting two quick outs in the ninth, Stem ran into trouble, allowing a double to Joel Guzman and walking Bryan Pounds. With two runners on, Revolution centerfielder James Simmons hit a hard shot off of Jovan Rosa at third base, and Guzman attempted to score. A strong recovery from Rosa and a perfect toss to New Britain catcher James Skelton nailed Guzman at the plate for the third and final out of the inning, giving the Bees their first-ever win.
In the third game of the four game series against the Revolution, the Bees lost 3-1.
Bees starter Cole Johnson settled down after allowing a two-run home run off the left-field scoreboard to the Revolution’s designated hitter Telvin Nash in the first inning to deliver six solid innings. The right-hander allowed six hits while striking out two.
Despite having several opportunities to put runs on the board due to three York errors and six walks, the Bees offense managed just one run on five singles. The Bees lone run came off the bat of outfielder Jon Jones, who plated Brandon Chaves with a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning.
The Bees did rally in the bottom half of the ninth, putting two runners in scoring position with two outs. York closer Mike DeMark recovered to strike out New Britain third baseman Jovan Rosa to finish off the win for the Revolution.
Despite another late rally from the offense, the New Britain Bees dropped another close one in the series finale of the first series of the season by a score of 3-2.
