By: Shannon Bickert
The Schooners dropped a road match up to the Upper Valley Nighthawks 7-6, on Wednesday, July 15. With the loss, Mystic fell to 19-12 on the summer.
Micha Wells (St. Joe’s), Upper Valley’s starter, tossed a three-up, three-down first inning of work.
The Nighthawks were unable to capitalize with the bases loaded against Nick Santivanez (Cal St. Fullerton) in the first, as Santivanez worked in and out of a jam.
Anthony Belisario (GWU) reached on a fielding error, and Thomas O’Connell (UVA) followed with a walk to lead off the second. Belisario swiped third, but the Schooners were held scoreless by Wells.
The Nighthawks struck first in the bottom of the second. Ethan Brown (Dartmouth) led off the frame with a double down the right field line. Levi Jones (SDSU) plated Brown on a single up the middle. Frank Kelly (HPU) reached on an error, allowing Jones to score. James Love (EIU) was intentionally walked, and Tim Dickinson (St. John’s) made the Schooners pay, hitting an RBI double to give the Nighthawks a 3-0 lead.
In his first game back, Adam Troch (Duke) knocked Mystic’s first hit of the day, a single up the middle to leadoff the third inning. Jack Harley (Stetson) moved Troch to third in a single through the right side, but the Schooners were unable to scrape across their first run.
The Schooners made their first call to the bullpen in the third to Jack Ballou (Lindsey Wilson). Jones worked a walk, Kelly singled and Langley added on with an infield RBI single.
The Schooners knotted things up at four all in the fourth inning. Belisario led off with a single, and swiped second base. O’Connell singled to left, setting up Jamie Zee (Notre Dame) to plate the Schooners’ first run. Justin Best (Manhattan) kept the line moving with a single. Chris Walsh (Northeastern) singled, and the Schooners brought in two runs on an overthrow on the play. Troch tied things up with a single to center field, ending Wells’ night. The Nighthawks turned to George Creighton (FDU) who stopped the bleeding.
Justin Gouin (Hartford) came out of the Schooners’ bullpen in the bottom of the fifth. Jonathan Holt (St. Joe’s) wore a pitch, setting up Brown for a two-run shot to retake the lead.
Mystic pulled back within one as Cole Egan (UPitt) took the mound in the top of the sixth for Upper Valley. Gabe Natividad (Xavier) started off the inning with a single through the left side. O’Connell cut the deficit to one run with an RBI single to right field.
Gouin bounced back in his second inning of work, dealing a 1-2-3 fifth inning.
Brian Smith (Canisius) took the bump in the sixth and retired the Schooners in order.
Mystic called on Max Hilsenroth (New Haven) to make his debut in the bottom of the sixth. Hilsenroth allowed two baserunners to reach via the walk, but tossed a scoreless inning of work.
Luke Trout (Brown) took the bump for the Schooners in the bottom of the seventh, who held the Nighthawks scoreless in the frame.
The Schooners knotted the score again in the eighth when Arthur Green (Molloy) took the mound. Belisario drew a walk and caused chaos on the basepaths, stealing second and moving to third on an error. Belisario came in to score on O’Connell’s sac fly to tie the game.
In the bottom of the eighth, Trout walked three consecutive hitters, ending his night. Mystic called on Colby Correia (Endicott) with one out and the bases loaded. Correia walked in one of the inherited runs, giving the Nighthawks the one-run lead.
Julian Rondon (Liberty) shut down Mystic from a comeback in the ninth, closing out the game and earning the save.
The Schooners return to action on Thursday, July 16, at Danbury for a doubleheader. First pitch for game one is set for 4:00 pm.
