HOLYOKE, MA–The Valley Blue Sox are at home tonight for Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce Night when they host the Mystic Schooners in a 6:35 p.m. contest between the North and South Division leaders. Gates open at 5:30 p.m. and the first 500 youth in attendance will be given a Blue Sox Mini Bat.
KEY LINKS: Tickets | Blue Sox Roster | Schooners Roster | Scoreboard | Standings | Watch/Listen LIVE
LAST TIME THEY MET: Although the Blue Sox held Mystic to just two hits, they could not find their own offense in a 2-0 loss to the Schooners on July 18, 2013 at Mackenzie Stadium. Mystic scored what proved to be the winning run in the 4th inning with a walk, hit batsman, passed ball, and sacrifice fly; they added an insurance run in the eighth on an infield single to attain the 2-0 final.
ALL-TIME SERIES: The Blue Sox are 6-4 overall against Mystic, with 3-2 records both home and away. However, the Schooners swept the Blue Sox last season, earning a 7-5 win at Fitch High School despite committing five errors.
PITCHING PROBABLES: The Blue Sox will turn to Derik Beauprez to shut down the Schooners bats. The sophomore righthander out of the University of Miami took a tough luck loss in his first appearance with the team, throwing six innings against Laconia on June 10, allowing two earned runs on six hits and a walk with four strikeouts. Mystic is scheduled to start lefthander Douglas Dominarski this afternoon. A sophomore at UConn-Avery Point, he went just 3.2 innings against Danbury on June 8 in what turned out to be a 13-10 Mystic win, allowing three runs–one earned–on five hits and two walks with two strikeouts.
LAST TIME OUT: The Blue Sox dug themselves a hole that was just a little too deep to get out of, surrendering five unearned runs as part of a six run second inning in a 6-5 loss against the Ocean State Waves on Sunday June 15. The Blue Sox fought hard and chipped away at the lead bit by bit, getting two in the third with a Josh Graham RBI single and a wild pitch, adding another in the fourth as Angelo La Bruna and Joseph Carcone hit back-to-back doubles, Trey Sikes hit another home run in the fifth, and Carcone singled in Sikes in the seventh. But the tying run was cut down at the dish in the seventh and stranded in the eighth and ninth as the rally came up short.
Mystic pounded on their Connecticut neighbors in Danbury their last outing; despite falling down 2-0 in the first, they eventually won the day 10-4, scoring twice in the fourth and sixth and adding four in the ninth, including a three-run home run by Louis Ianotti to break it open. The Schooners have won four straight.
WHO’S HOT: Graham has mashed since arriving in the Valley last week, going 6-for-11 at the plate with a double and three RBI, while Carcone is second in the league in batting average at .429. Sikes, who was player of the week last week, is fifth in the league with a .400 average. For the Schooners, catcher Chase Livingston has a four-game hitting streak going and is 6-for-15 on the season.
GAME-TIME WEATHER FORECAST: Mostly Sunny, 80 degrees, winds west-northwest at 10 MPH, 10% chance of rain.
NEXT UP: The Blue Sox hop back on the bus to take on the Keene Swamp Bats. They return home Saturday June 21 for a doubleheader with the Vermont Mountaineers. Gates open at 4:30 p.m. for the 5:35 p.m. start. Fans who attend the game will be able to see the Red Sox World Series Trophies, which will be at the game.