By: Shannon Bickert

The Schooners travel to Cardines Field to battle the Newport Gulls on Wednesday, July 22. Mystic and Newport are both vying for the second place spot in the NECBL South Division. The season series between the two squads is tied at 2-2 on the summer.

Currently, the Schooners sit in second place in the South with a 21-14 record, while the Gulls are just behind with a 21-15-1 mark.

Both of Mystic’s wins against the Gulls this summer have come in extras. In their most recent meeting, Jack Harley (Stetson) walked it off in 10 innings for Mystic.

Mystic is coming off a 10-6 defeat to the Valley Blue Sox. Jamie Zee (Notre Dame) hit his fifth home run of the summer in the loss. Zee now ranks fourth in the NECBL in RBI with 25.

Newport also lost their last contest, falling 6-2 in six innings on Tuesday evening.

The Gulls sit atop the batting stats in the NECBL, boasting a .265 team batting average. Newport slugs at a .403 rate and rank second in the league in homers with 35. Ryan Novak (Miami U) and Caeden Cloud (UK) have been at the center of Newport’s power, each producing five home runs this summer. Devan Zirwas (EMU) leads Newport in batting average, hitting .344.

Mystic enters the night with a team .241 batting average. The Schooners rank fourth in the league in homers with 29, and are led by Anthony Ruggiero (URI) who has tallied six home runs this summer. Ruggiero will represent Mystic in the home run derby on Sunday.

Mystic’s probable starter is Nick Santivanez (Cal St. Fullerton). Santivanez has struck out 17 hitters across 15.1 innings of work with the Schooners.

Parker Jennings (OSU) is Newport’s probable starter. The right-handed pitcher has pitched to a 6.35 ERA across 11.1 innings, striking out 15.

First pitch from Cardines is set for 6:35 pm on Wednesday. Catch the live-game broadcast on NECBL +.