Norwich — The celebratory horde of Norwich Sea Unicorns met Nick Tomasetto at second base, where he stood after a game-winning double, and smothered him in a pile of bodies.

“I was scared,” Tomasetto said with a smile later Sunday, the party continuing on the infield at Dodd Stadium. “I was at the bottom of the pile getting crushed, but you know it’s a great feeling.

“... I kind of blacked out a little bit. I just remember seeing the ball get down and seeing AJ score and that was it.”

Tomasetto (Rutgers) dunked an RBI double down the right field line with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to score AJ Soldra (NJIT) from first base, giving the Sea Unicorns a 5-4 victory over the Westfield Starfires and a sweep of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League championship series.

Norwich won Game 1 of the best-of-three series Saturday in Westfield, Massachusetts, 5-3, meaning the Sea Unicorns needed to win just one of two games at home Sunday to clinch their second straight FCBL crown.

Norwich trailed 4-3 with two outs in the eighth when Trey Porter (Monmouth) drew a walk and Bo Yaworski (Central Connecticut) doubled to the left-center field gap in his first career postseason at-bat to tie the score.

Yaworski, formerly of Mitchell College, played for the Sea Unicorns in 2022 but missed last summer due to a torn labrum.

“Whenever you come in late in a game, you don’t have time to warm up and get ready,” said Yaworski, who came in as a defensive replacement at first base to start the seventh. “You’ve got to go. You’ve got to be ready. That was my plan, just to be ready for the first pitch. He threw me a fastball. I was ready for it.”

Right-handed reliever Matt Poncini (Quinnipiac) followed by pitching a spotless top of the ninth, his second inning out of the bullpen. Poncini allowed a two-out single to Aidan Redahan (Central Connecticut), but struck out left-handed cleanup hitter Danny Hussey (Central Connecticut) to end the inning.

With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Soldra, named the Most Valuable Player of the championship series, was hit by a pitch.

That brought Westfield left-hander Camden Thomas (Keene State) out of the bullpen to face Tomasetto. Tomasetto, the third baseman, was 0-for-3 previously in the game but had walked and scored.

“Obviously a chippy, chippy series with these guys but we’re happy to come out on top,” Norwich manager Kevin Murphy said. “We had enough arms to finish (in case of a doubleheader) but I didn’t want to get to another game.

“Just a gritty team that showed up every day. Nick Tomasetto has been great for us all year. He’s been our guy. A great player and, honestly, a great teammate.”

Westfield started Sunday’s game with a 1-0 lead in the top of the first after Julio Solier (Boston College) led off with a bunt single that was misplayed, allowing him to take second. A pair of walks moved Solier to third and he scored on a groundout by Trey Cruz (Washington State).

Norwich scored three in the third, highlighted by a two-run triple to left by Shaun Callahan (New Haven) on a ball which initially appeared to be caught by Westfield’s Josh Frometa (American International), which was later ruled to have been dropped.

Nick Sturino (Fairfield) led off the inning with a walk and Kaiden Dossa (Yale) singled to left, with both runners advancing on an error. Sturino scored on an RBI groundout by Soldra to make it 1-1. Tomasetto walked to put two runners on for Callahan, who lifted the ball over Frometa’s head in left, causing him to make a diving play on the ball.

Callahan’s triple, ruled to have fallen in after Westfield’s players had already exited the field, believing the inning was over, made it 3-1.

Westfield scored three times in the sixth on consecutive RBI by Cam Papetti (Bryant), Jackson Haker (American International) and Gianno Merlonghi (Central Connecticut) to take a 4-3 edge.

Norwich starter Hector Alejandro (UConn), who threw a no-hitter previously this season, pitched 5.2 innings, relieved by Gavin Hawkes (Rider) for 1.1 innings and later Poncini.

Murphy, 25, who serves as the pitching coach at Amherst College, won his second FCBL title in as many seasons as the manager of the Sea Unicorns. He also managed in the league’s All-Star Game this summer, held at Dodd Stadium.

“It’s special but I’m trying to stay humble,” Murphy said, “because winning is hard as it is. I’ve had a lot of success early and that’s great, this is what I want to do with my life and my career, but take the highs as they come and the lows as they come. You’ve kind of got to stay level-headed.”

“I love every guy on this team,” Tomasetto said. “There’s been 50 guys to wear this jersey this summer and I think I became close with every single one of them. Everyone rooted for each other. We had a great culture. That’s why we’re here right now.”

v.fulkerson@theday.com