By: Shannon Bickert

The Schooners are back at the Shipyard on Monday, July 20 to host the Valley Blue Sox. Mystic is 21-13 on the summer, landing the Schooners in second place in the NECBL South Division. The Blue Sox rank second to last in the NECBL South with a 13-18-1 record.

The two squads split the series 1-1. Their final meeting will come as a double-header at Ed Harvey Field on Saturday afternoon. In their last faceoff, Mystic took down Valley 11-2.

The Blue Sox are coming up back-to-back off days with their most recent contests coming on Friday where they split a doubleheader against the Bristol Blues. Chris Carson (SBU) tallied three RBI across the two games.

Mystic is coming off a routing of the Waves, defeating Ocean State on the road by a 16-4 final score. Joel Collado (URI) and Gavin O’Brien (Northeastern) each ripped home runs in the win and tallied three-RBI nights.

Entering the night, Mystic’s Anthony Ruggiero (URI) is tied for the NECBL lead in home runs with six.

Valley comes into the contest with a team .209 batting average, while Mystic boasts a .240 clip. The Blue Sox have the second lowest team on-base percentage with a .338 mark, while Mystic is in the top half of the league with a .373. Mystic has recorded 27 long balls on the summer, while the Blue Sox have recorded 10.

It will be a star-studded night at the Shipyard with eight NECBL South All-Stars. Collado, Ruggiero, Jack Harley (Stetson), Connor Lane (UConn) and MJ Bollinger (UConn) will represent Mystic in the game. Chris Cancel (UConn), Gregory Bruno (Seton Hall) and Jack Ensell (Barry) got All-Star nods for the Blue Sox.

Mystic’s probable starter is Brady Bouchard (Stetson). Bouchard has pitched to a 2.75 ERA across 19.2 innings pitched. Bouchard has posted a 1.02 WHIP and struck out 16 hitters across seven appearances.

First pitch from Ed Harvey Field is scheduled for 6:30 pm on Monday evening. Catch the live-game broadcast on ESPN+.