For the Ocean State Waves, a resurgence of offense in the second half of their first matchup with the Mystic Schooners in 2024 fell just short as the Waves lost 6-5 in Groton.

After a scoreless first inning, Mystic got their bats going first when Marc Willi drove in Scotty Young for the first run of the ballgame. Later in that inning though, a double steal ignited by Luke Sefcik dashing to second allowed Anthony DePino to sneak home, extending the Mystic lead to 2-0.

The third inning featured Christian Scanlon crossing home plate while Ocean State’s infielders handled other factors in a bases loaded fielder's choice, along with Julian Stevens who added a run to the tally by a wild pitch. The two unorthodox scoring methods for Mystic resulted in yet another two-run inning for the Schooners.

The fourth inning repeated history as the Schooners saw another two runs cross the plate. An Erik Paulsen single into center field drove home both Christian Scanlon and Davis Johnson, bringing the eventual lead for Mystic to 6-0 after just four innings. 

However, in renaissance fashion, the Waves began their climb back up in the top of the fifth when Zach Plasschaert turned on the tenth pitch of the at-bat and rocketed a 415 foot blast into the looming trees in right, making the score 6-2. A knock that drove in Eric Fernandez and injected new life into the visiting dugout.

The Waves kept the pressure in the sixth as well. After Greg Pettay knocked a ball into the outfield for a single, he sped around the diamond off a double to center field by Harrison Wilson and tacked on yet another run for the Waves, trimming the Mystic lead to 6-3.

Later in the same inning, Harrison Wilson himself crossed home from third after Aaron Walton singled to center. Like the Schooners, the Waves put up a consecutive two-run inning of their own and moved the scoreboard to 6-4.

Ocean State continued on their offensive journey in the seventh as well, loading the bases with two walks and a single, before a third walk drawn by Donovan Cash crossed Plasschaert to cut the Schooner lead in half 6-5.

Unfortunately for the Waves, Tate Evans, who walked Cash, proceeded to strike out five batters through 2.2 innings of work, clinching the win for the Schooners, who have now won four straight games.

The Waves are back in action tomorrow night in North Adams at 4:00 p.m. when they attempt to get back to .500 against the Steeplecats at Joe Wolfe Field.