BINGHAMTON – Norwich had a 9-8 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh inning, but the host Binghamton Patriots were able to put together a few hits against the Purple Tornado to add a run and force an extra inning.
In the bottom of the eighth, Patriots pitcher Kenny Westbrook helped his own cause by hitting a single and scoring his teammate Jake Miller. Westbrook’s walk-off at bat gave him the win on the mound and his team the win for the game, taking down the Purple, 10-9.
Binghamton took an early 3-2 lead after the first but Norwich added four runs in the second and another three in the third to give them a 9-3 lead.
Once the Patriots brought Westbrook in for relief, the Purple Tornado batters recorded one hit and 13 strikeouts as Norwich was unable to hit his fast ball, according to Norwich head coach Rich Turnbull.
In the bottom of the fourth, Binghamton began to chip away at the Tornado when they brought two runners across the plate.
In the same inning, Norwich’s starter Marcus Cashman was pulled after three and two-thirds. Cashman struck out nine Patriot batters but it was the unfortunate errors made in the field that scored the five runs for the home team. Only one of the Binghamton runs was earned against Cashman before Eli Rodriguez came on in relief.