The Schooners routed North Adams 12-2 on Tuesday, June 9, extending their win streak to three straight games. Mystic moves to 5-1 on the season.
The Schooners’ pitching staff was stellar, striking out 13 hitters.
Jack Harley (Stetson), Gabe Natividad (Winthrop) and Cam Righi (UConn) all recorded three-hit nights. Mystic exploded offensively with 15 hits on the day.
Harley led off the game with a single and was replaced on the basepaths on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Natividad. Righi doubled to the right-center field fence, putting Gabe Wheaton (Niagara), North Adam’s starter, in early trouble. Bryce Detwiler (UConn) hit a dribbler back at Wheaton, scoring Natividad to put the Schooners up 1-0 in the first.
Mystic’s starter, Dominic Pontbriant (USF), allowed a double to Evan Meier (Mt. St. Mary’s) in the first frame, but escaped the inning striking out two SteepleCats.
The Schooners brought 10 hitters to the plate in the second inning, giving them a 6-0 lead. In his 2026 Schooners debut, Anthony Ruggiero (Northeastern) led off the frame with a walk and swiped second base. Christian Butera (Brown) followed with a bloop single to right to put traffic on the basepaths with no outs. Scott Penney (URI) got ahead in the count and tattooed a ball into the left-center field gap, bringing in both baserunners to give Mystic a 3-0 advantage. Harley continued to strike, ripping his second hit of the day to left field, scoring Penney. Natividad followed with an RBI-bloop single just over the head of the first baseman, giving the Schooners a five-run lead. Righi joined the party with a hard-hit infield single, and Detwiler reached on a single to load the bases. Wensley ripped a line-drive sacrifice fly to put the fifth Schooners run of the inning on the board.
Pontbriant tossed a second scoreless frame. Pontbriant allowed a double but only faced the minimum courtesy of a double play.
After a long second inning of work, Wheaton tossed a 1-2-3 third, striking out two.
Pontbriant dealt a three-up, three-down third inning, striking out one to end the frame.
Natividad struck against the new Steeplecat’s arm, Liam Riordan (RPI), hitting a single to third base to reach in the fourth, but North Adams got out of the inning unscathed.
In Pontbriant’s final inning of work, the lefty struck out two. He tallied six strikeouts on the day.
In the fifth, the Schooners put up a two-run two-out rally. Ruggiero reached on his second walk of the day. Ruggiero recorded his second stolen base of the day and advanced to third on the overthrow. Butera followed with a walk of his own to put runners on the corners. Ruggiero came in to score on a bad pickoff attempt, and Butera moved from first to third. Penney gave the Schooners double digits in the hits column with his RBI infield single. Penney instantly caused chaos on the basepaths, swiping second. Troy Reader (Notre Dame) and Harley worked walk-to-back walks to juice the bases for Mystic, forcing the SteepleCats to turn to their bullpen. Matt Higgins (Colby) stopped the bleeding, forcing a lineout to end the inning.
Justin Gouin (Hartford) took the bump in the fifth for Mystic. The rising junior struggled with command early, loading the bases, but got out of the jam, keeping the shutout intact.
The Schooners continued to add on. Detwiler led off the sixth frame with a walk and tallied his third stolen base of the summer. Wensley ripped a 1-2 pitch down the right field line that carried all the way to the fence for an RBI triple. Wensley came in to score on a wild pitch to give the Schooners a double-digit lead. Butera reached for the third time in the game, drawing a four-pitch walk, but was stranded on the basepaths.
Nick Coniglio (Northeastern) worked his way in and out of trouble in his first appearance of the summer for Mystic in the bottom of the sixth. Coniglio walked two hitters but got out of the inning unscathed with a strike him out, throw him out double play.
Mystic took a 12-0 lead in the top of the seventh frame. Harley singled up the middle, reaching for the fourth time in the game. Natividad followed with an infield single and cruised into second on a misplay in the outfield. Righi dunked an RBI single into right field to extend Mystic’s lead to 11 runs. Detwiler worked a walk to load the bases for Wensley, who drove in his third run of the day on a sacrifice fly. Ruggiero knocked a single through the left side of the infield but was left on base.
Connor Shaw (SDSU) made his first relief appearance of the season in the bottom of the seventh for Mystic. The California native struck out two in the inning.
Braden Leed (PSU) looked strong in the eighth inning, striking out one. Leed stayed in for the ninth, where the SteepleCats got on the board. Nolan Currier (Salem St) and Owen Arias (CSU) worked back-to-back walks. Parker Camelo (RIC) hit an RBI single to right field to put the SteepleCats on the board. North Adams took advantage of an error on the play, bringing in another run.
Mystic resumes play on Thursday, June 11 against Newport. First pitch from Ed Harvey Field is set for 6:30 pm.
