NEWS

By: Brennan McGrevy

Groton, CT - The Valley Blue Sox traveled to take on the Mystic Schooners at Fitch High School Field and won 12-11 in a close game. It was a great night at the plate for Valley’s center fielder Tyler Bak.

Bak had an incredible six plate appearances and went four for four at the plate with one RBI and two walks. Bak wasn’t the only batter that dominated at the plate. The designated hitter Nicholas Spaventa hit the first homerun of the year for the Blue Sox and went one for three at the plate, and was walked twice.

Pitching was ugly all game long for both teams, forcing them to dig deep into the bullpens. There were over 20 walks between the two teams combined. The Schooners struggled with wild pitches all game long leading to many scoring opportunities for Valley.

The game started off with Mystic taking an early 3-0 lead after two innings. Valley had themselves a strong top of the fourth scoring their own three runs to tie the game up at three apiece.

The next inning the Schooners got the bats going and were able to push back out front by two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning thanks to Anthony Belisario’s RBI single. Mystic’s 5-3 lead did not last long.

The top of the sixth and seventh inning were all Valley. Schooners’ pitching included Connor Gatwood, who had multiple wild pitches leading to a 12-5 Blue Sox lead after the top of the eighth inning. Five runs were scored in the top of the seventh and all the runs came from no hits. The runs were scored from wild pitches and walks.

Mystic was able to surge back into the game with two runs scored in the bottom of the eighth. The bottom of the ninth inning proved to be a momentum shifter for the Schooners as they scored four runs to make it 12-11, but Valley’s pitcher Max McCrary kept his composure to deliver a victory for the Blue Sox.

The Blue Sox will look to keep the momentum going as they host the Keene Swamp Bats at MacKenzie Stadium on Friday at 6:35 p.m. and can be streamed on ESPN+.