By: Shannon Bickert

The Schooners had the winning run at first base in the ninth inning, but were unable to rally late and secure the win against the league best Martha’s Vineyard. Mystic fell by a 8-6 final score on Tuesday, June 16 at the Shipyard, moving to 8-3 on the summer.

Griffin Crain (Louisville) dunked a single into right-center field but a double-play cleared the bases en route to a clean first frame from Harry Engle (Fairfield).

Callen Powers (UMass-Amherst) tossed a 1-2-3 first for the Sharks, fanning two.

Nick Barron (Northwestern) led off the second inning with a double off the center field fence and moved to third on a bad pickoff attempt. Jack Kamin lined a ball to Casey Wensley (Bryant) in left field who gunned out Barron at home to keep it a scoreless game.

Engle allowed his third leadoff to reach in the third on a walk. Bryan Sornas (Holy Cross) ripped a hard-hit infield single to put two on. Jackson Roper (WFU) worked a walk to load the bases but Engle worked out of the jam, forcing a fly out.

Scott Penney (URI) tallied the first hit on the day for the Schooners in the third, ripping a triple into right-center field. Powers stranded Penney on the basepaths to keep the game knotted at one all.

Engle struck out three in the fourth, getting out of a traffic jam with two on.

The Schooners broke the scoreless tie in the fourth on the new arm Scott Longo (Northeastern). Powers’ day ended after striking out six through three. Bryce Detwiler (UConn) ripped a single through the right side and swiped second, his team-leading fifth stolen bag of the season. Cam Righi (UConn) worked a walk to put two on with one out. Both baserunners took the extra 90 feet on a wild pitch, setting up Jamie Zee (Notre Dame) for an RBI. Anthony Ruggiero (Portal) worked a walk but Longo got out of the frame, allowing just one run.

Vineyard answered back in the fifth, taking the 2-1 lead. Nick Coniglio (Northeastern) took the mound in the fourth and issued a walk to Crain and an infield single to Roper. Both baserunners moved into scoring position on a wild pitch. Ryan Thompson (URI) ripped the go-ahead single through the left side, bringing home both baserunners. After Coniglio dealt a walk to Barron, ending his day. The Schooners turned to Chris Hernandez (CSF) to record the final two outs of the frame. Hernandez fanned both Sharks hitters.

An exciting four-run fifth inning gave Mystic a three-run advantage. Joél Collado (URI) ripped a solo shot deep to left field to tie the game at two all in the fifth against the new bullpen arm Angel Cruz (Northeastern). The home run was the first in Collado’s collegiate career. Penney and Wensley worked walks and Detwiler hit an infield single to juice the bases. Alex Grant (Northwestern) came out of the bullpen for the Sharks to try and get out of the jam. Grant dealt an RBI walk to Righi to give Mystic the lead. Zee followed with his second RBI of the day, a sacrifice fly. Detwiler came in to score on a double steal, giving Mystic a 5-2 lead.

The Sharks matched the Schooners in the top of the sixth inning. James McGee (Kennesaw) and Sornas opened the top of the sixth inning with back-to-back singles. Roper ripped an RBI double off the center field wall, cutting the deficit to two runs. Thompson knocked a two-run single to tie the game at 5-5.

Justin Best (Manhattan) opened the bottom of the sixth frame with a single to right-center field. Grant got out of the inning forcing a double-play and ground out.

The Sharks retook the lead in the top of the seventh inning. Stephen Curry (Seton Hall) allowed traffic on the base paths on an infield single and a walk. The Sharks capitalized, scoring on an error to take the 6-5 lead.

Vineyard’s Landon O’Donnell (Portal) struck out the side in the bottom of the seventh on ten pitches.

In the eighth, the Sharks added on, forcing pressure with traffic on the basepaths. Nick Rubino (WFU) scored on Jack Kamin’s (Tufts) single. Barron came home on a passed ball, extending the Sharks lead to three runs.

Righi worked a walk then swiped second and third in the eighth. Zee and Best both walked to load the bases for the Schooners, ending O’Donnell’s day. Michael Devenney (Tulane) got out of the jam, stranding all three baserunners.

Connor Shaw (SDSU) took the bump in the ninth for Mystic. Shaw allowed traffic but escaped the inning unscathed with two strikeouts.

Jack Harley (Stetson) worked a four pitch walk and Detwiler walked to bring the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth. Zee loaded the bases with a two-single. Ruggiero wore a pitch, bringing in Harley to score. Warner Gearhart (Oberlin) came in for the final out with a strikeout to end the game and seal the win.

The Schooners head to Cardines Field to face the Gulls on Wednesday, June 17. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m.