By: Shannon Bickert

The Schooners won their third straight game, taking down the Waves 13-3 on Wednesday, July 1. The win was Mystic’s second straight game scoring double-digit runs. The Schooners move to 13-7 on the summåer with the victory.

In his first start for the Schooners, Nick Santivanez (Cal St Fullerton) allowed a hit to Charlie Saul (Bryant) in the first inning, but Mystic’s backstop, Thomas O’Connell (UVA) caught Mahala attempting to steal second to end the inning.

Mystic got on the board early with a three-spot in the first against Kayden Faulcon (UPitt). Jack Harley (Stetson) led off the first, extending his hit streak to eight consecutive, in games that he played with a double to right. Gabe Natividad (Xaiver) and Bryce Detwiler (UConn) both drew walks to load the bases. Cam Righi (UConn) brought in Harley on a groundout to give Mystic the first score. Jamie Zee (Notre Dame) added on with a two-RBI single into right-center field.

Jack LaRose (URI) got the Waves on the board with a two-out solo shot to deep right-center field in the second inning.

O’Connell led off the bottom of the second inning with a base hit to left field. Anthony Belisario (Portal) worked a walk, and Natividad reached on an error to juice the bags for the second straight inning. This time, Faulcon was able to escape the inning unscathed.

The Schooners kept a clean frame in the top of the third behind good defense. On a sacrifice fly, Righi threw out Gray Eubanks (Southern Miss.) at home from left field to end the inning.

Righi reached on an error in the bottom of the third frame, but Mystic was unable to capitalize on the misplay.

Santivanez tossed a 1-2-3 top of the fourth.

Mystic added on in the bottom of the fourth. On the first pitch of the frame, Anthony Ruggiero (Portal) poked an opposite-field shot to left-center field. Belisario followed with a double to right field to put two in scoring position. Harley hit a sacrifice fly deep to center to score Ruggiero. Natividad made it a four-run game with the second sacrifice fly of the inning.

The Schooners turned to Calvin Gregory (VCU) in the fifth on the bump. Gregory sat down the Waves in order in his first inning of work.

Boston Flannery (UNC) took the ball for the Waves in the bottom of the frame. Detwiler opened the frame with a single, and Zee moved the line with a base knock. Flannery forced a double-play to end the inning and keep the Schooners’ bats at bay.

Gregory continued to fill the zone in the sixth, tossing his second straight three-up, three-down inning. Gregory ended his night with four strikeouts through two innings of work.

Mystic extended their lead to eight runs with a four-spot. Ruggiero smoked a single up the middle to open the bottom half of the sixth for the Schooners. Belisario walked, passing the baton to Harley, who ripped an RBI-infield single. Natividad poured on with a two-RBI double down the left field line. Natividad advanced to third on Casey Wensley’s (Bryant) sacrifice fly and came home to score on a wild pitch.

The Waves chipped away in the seventh as Mystic called on Justin Gouin (Hartford) to take the bump. Gabe Milano (UMiami) hit a one-out triple to the center field wall, and LaRose hit his second long ball of the night to the deepest part of the ballpark, cutting the deficit to six runs.

The Schooners took a ten-run lead in the bottom of the seventh. Zee ripped his third single of the night against the Waves’ new arm, Andrew Jacobs (Arizona). O’Connell worked a four-pitch walk, and Harley knocked both runners in on a double to left. Natividad wore a pitch, and Wensley followed with a walk to load the bases with two outs. The Schooners added on as the Waves’ defense faltered, scoring their third run of the inning on an error. Natividad added on, scoring on a wild pitch to give Mystic a 13-3 lead.

Luke Trout (Brown) allowed two baserunners in the eighth for Mystic, but got out of the jam unscathed.

Zee and Joel Collado (URI) worked back-to-back walks to open the eighth against Kalen Applefield (Long Beach). After allowing the first two to reach, Applefield worked himself out of trouble.

On the first pitch in the ninth from Nick Coniglio (Northeastern), Sam Fernandez (Stetson) knocked a double to deep left field. LaRose followed with a walk, but Coniglio got out of the inning unscathed, not allowing a run to score.

The Schooners return to the Shipyard on Thursday, July 2, against the Upper Valley Nighthawks. First pitch is set for 6:35 pm from Ed Harvey Field.