SIDNEY - After making major improvements in the last few games, the Norwich Purple Tornado baseball team finally picked up their first win of the 2023 season in a close 8-7 win over Bainbridge-Guilford. Both teams faced each other for game one of the Sidney Tournament for Diabetes. Norwich lost their previous game on Friday by a score of 3-2 over Seton Catholic, so they appreciated the nice come from behind win.

Norwich got on the board first as Nick Ragonese led-off with a single before scoring with two outs on a passed ball. Ragonese finished 3-for-4 on the day to lead the Norwich offense. B-G answered back with four runs of their own on some struggles by the Norwich defense.

In the back-and-forth affair, Norwich tied the game in the top of the second inning with three runs. Ragonese drove in a run on his second hit of the day while Trent Marinelli hit a two-out RBI single and Kaden Downey was hit by pitch with the bases loaded.

The Bobcats weren’t through as they came back with three runs in the third inning. Damon Seymour hit a two-out single and scored on Jose Bivar’s double that followed. Bivar led B-G with two hits in three plate appearances. The next players up to bat reached on walks before Kaiden Seymour drove in two on an RBI single.

Trailing 7-5 in the top of the sixth with two runners on for Norwich, Kaden Downey, on an 0-1 count, took B-G reliever Julian Pruskowski deep to left for a three-run home run. That would be the game-winner as Norwich held the Bobcats in the final two at-bats.

Both Norwich and B-G pitchers combined for nine strikeouts in the game. Norwich’s Trey Bates earned the win while B-G’s Kaiden Seymour took the loss.

The Sidney Tournament for Diabetes will resume next weekend.

Norwich (1-9) hosts Owego on Wednesday at 5 p.m. while B-G (5-4) travels to Unatego on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m.

Box Score:

Runs by Inning: R H E

Norwich:

1-3-0-1-0-3-0 8 7 1

B-G:

4-0-3-0-0-0-0 7 5 3