A Tale of Two Games: Spinners Bounce Back to Split Doubleheader with Bees

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A long day and night of baseball took place on Thursday at LeLacheur Park. The Lowell Spinners and the New Britain Bees played a doubleheader to make up for a rainout from Tuesday night. The Spinners entered the day coming off a win on Wednesday night against Worcester.

Zake Zawatsky was the game-one starter for the Spinners, making his eighth appearance of the season with a 3.63 ERA in 22.1 innings pitched. For the Bees, Robby Wunsch took the ball, making his sixth appearance with a 2.76 ERA in 22.2 innings pitched. Since both games were seven-inning affairs, getting off to a quick start was critical.

New Britain did just that in the opening game. The Bees’ first three hitters picked up hits, starting with a double from Ben Kuja, followed by back-to-back singles from Amato Civitello and Tim Henning. Civitello’s hit drove in Kuja to make it 1-0, and a subsequent groundout by Jace Dunn scored Civitello to give the Bees a 2-0 lead before Lowell even stepped to the plate.

With New Britain possessing a league-best 4.05 team ERA, jumping out to an early two-run lead was crucial—especially since the Bees entered the day with the fewest runs scored in the league (162). Playing with a lead was a massive advantage, and they kept the pressure on as Zawatsky’s tough outing extended into the second inning.

A walk to Brady Chernovetz got things started for New Britain. A Kuja single to right field put runners on first and third, and a sacrifice fly brought Chernovetz home to make it 3-0. Henning followed with a base hit to score Civitello (who went 2-for-2 with 2 RBIs and 3 runs scored), extending the lead to 4-0. George Stauson then singled to center field, where a slow reaction from the Spinners’ defense allowed Henning to score all the way from first base, stretching the New Britain lead to 5-0 after two innings.

Zawatsky was pulled after two frames, finishing his day with 2 innings pitched, 6 hits, 5 earned runs, 2 walks, and 1 strikeout. Grant Willard came on in relief, but the results did not improve. New Britain tagged him for another 5 runs on 4 hits, blowing the game open to 10-0 by the bottom of the third.

The Spinners finally got on the board in their half of the third inning. A two-run triple by Cam Biller brought home Fletcher Waterman and Charlie Beauregard, both of whom had singled to kick off the frame, cutting the deficit to 10-2.

Ryan O’Leary took over on the mound for Lowell in the fourth. He allowed a run in the fifth inning after Henning collected his fourth hit of the game—a triple to right field—and scored on a groundout by George Stauson to make it 11-2.

After five strong innings, Wunsch gave way to Julian Mercado. Wunsch finished his stellar outing,g allowing just 3 hits and 2 earned runs while striking out 3 and walking none. Lowell managed to scratch across more runs against Mercado in the sixth. Cam Biller (3-for-4, 2 RBIs, 1 run scored) singled to left, and Nic Lembo followed with a single of his own. After a fielder’s choice, David Vanderzouwen drove in a run with a single to left, making it 12-3.

New Britain added one more run in the top of the seventh, and Lowell matched it with a run of their own in the bottom half. It was far from enough, however, as New Britain cruised to a 13-4 victory in game one.

In game two, Ian Keusch took the mound for Lowell, matching up against New Britain’s Jake Harmony. Looking to secure a night split, the Spinners’ offense struck early, scoring twice in the first inning against Harmony. Esteban Dessureault singled to center and scored on a double by Cam Biller to make it 1-0. Aidan Driscoll followed with a single to center to bring Biller home, giving Lowell a 2-0 lead after one.

The Spinners doubled their score in the second inning. Quincy Kerr hit an RBI single to center to score Lorenzo Camilleri, who had singled to open the frame. A few batters later, a sacrifice fly to right by Dessureault brought home Marco Zurpolo, extending Lowell’s advantage to 4-0.

Keusch was excellent through five frames, surrendering just three hits and one earned run. The Spinners added three insurance runs in the bottom of the fifth to build a seemingly comfortable 7-1 lead. However, Keusch began to tire in the sixth, loading the bases with one out before surrendering a bases-clearing double to Dylan Swarts. The hit cut Lowell’s lead to 7-4 and ended Keusch’s night.

Trailing by three in the seventh, New Britain put together one final rally. They knocked reliever Gavin Graham out of the game, forcing Josh Bryant to come on to protect the lead. Inheriting a messy situation with runners on first and second, Bryant allowed a two-out base hit to left by Owen Rich, which plated two runs and sliced Lowell’s lead to a razor-thin 7-6.

Bryant buckled down and ended the threat right there, striking out Garrett McGovern to halt the Bees’ comeback, secure the save, and preserve a 7-6 game-two victory for the doubleheader split.

After the games, Spinners manager Kevin Graber called the doubleheader a “tale of two cities.” In the first game, he noted that Zake Zawatsky was throwing strikes but failing to miss bats, creating a hole that was simply too deep to climb out of. In the second game, following a brief team meeting between contests, the lineup came out swinging. Graber praised the performance of Ian Keusch, noting he had hoped for a complete game, but expressed love for how the bullpen stepped up—specifically highlighting Josh Bryant for shutting down the Bees’ final rally to secure the save.

The Spinners will return to LeLacheur Park on Saturday to face Nashua.