Norwich — Being from nearby Killingly, Brian Albee used to be a regular at Dodd Stadium.

When he was much younger, he had the privilege of meeting former Norwich Navigators Madison Bumgarner and Brandon Crawford, later major leaguers for the San Francisco Giants. Then, as soon as he and his high school friends got their licenses they drove to the stadium every day.

"The whole childhood thing. Every single day," Albee said Monday from the stadium's right field concourse. "Me and my friends, every day in the summer. We just watched."

A right-handed pitcher at Eastern Connecticut State University, Albee is now a member of the Norwich Sea Unicorns, one of eight teams in the Futures Collegiate Baseball League and the new tenant at Dodd. Albee was, in fact, the starting pitcher in Sunday's 6-2 victory over the Vermont Lake Monsters in Burlington, Vermont, giving the Sea Unicorns their first win in franchise history.

On Monday, Norwich (1-3) played its home opener at Dodd against the Brockton Rox (1-1), scheduled to be followed by a fireworks display.

Center fielder Andy Martin (Elite Squad Academy) led off the new era at Dodd in the bottom of the first inning at 7:09 p.m., beating out an infield single, meanwhile Hunter Yaworski (Killingly High School, Mitchell College) and Colton Bender (Lyman Memorial High School, Quinnipiac University) represented the Eastern Connecticut Conference as members of the Sea Unicorns' starting lineup.

Manager Devin Belenski, formerly a member of the coaching staff at UConn who was hired in Norwich on May 18, forcing him to scramble with the season's start looming, called it a "relief" to be able to focus on baseball again, especially with Sunday's win.

"It's been nice and relaxing," said Belenski, who had former legendary UConn baseball coach Andy Baylock throwing batting practice Monday. "There's been a lot going on. We had to sign a lot of guys to temp contracts. We only had 12 (players) at one point; I think we signed six guys to temp contracts. It's been a relief getting back to baseball.

"We've been anticipating a win. Coming home after a long road trip (to Vermont), the food tasted a lot better. That takes a lot of pressure off our shoulders. They were so excited. It's just a great group of guys. I wouldn't want to be with another group of guys. To be in the head position, it's just out of this world right now."

Bender, who contributed to Sunday's win with three walks and three runs scored, is one of the players who signed a temporary contract to get the Sea Unicorns through until the rest of the members of their roster arrive following their collegiate seasons.

Norwich's starting catcher, Bender will depart in a few weeks to join the Bourne Braves of the Cape Cod League. Bender has also committed to play his graduate year at Division I Rutgers next season.

He's enjoyed being a part of the Sea Unicorns, also saying it was the trips he made to Dodd Stadium growing up that sparked his interest in professional baseball.

"When you get your first win anywhere, it's special," Bender said. "Our team has loads of talent. They're going to win a lot this year."

Yaworski, meanwhile, a left-handed hitter who started for the Sea Unicorns in left field, joined the team just a few hours before the first pitch Monday. He played a day-night doubleheader for Mitchell College in the NCAA Division III tournament Saturday in Auburn, New York, and returned home Sunday. He took batting practice at Norwich's indoor cage off of Baylock.

He will be joined on the team by Mitchell teammates Ryan Ahern, Eddie Kaftan and Cameron Varney, as well as ECC alums Payton Sutman of Waterford (Holy Cross) and East Lyme's Matt Malcom (Eastern Connecticut).

"This is definitely a privilege I'm going to take advantage of," Yaworski said. "I really like the coach. Everyone seems pretty welcoming. It was just two or three weeks ago I heard this team was looking for players and I asked my coach (Mitchell's Travis Beausoleil) if he could reach out.

"Today was my first day swinging a wood bat in months. BP was good in the cage. It felt really good. I was finding the barrel."

v.fulkerson@theday.com