The Bristol Blues edged out a 9-8 win over the Mystic Schooners Sunday night to improve to 20-12 on the season. 

Bristol exploded for six runs in the third inning to take the lead. Thomas Ahlers, (University of Dayton) Dean O'Neill (Middle Tennessee State) and Trevor Hansen (Manhattan) all had RBI singles in the inning. The Blues tacked on more in the fourth and quickly jumped out to a commanding 7-0 lead after four innings. 

Mystic cut into the lead, scoring one run in the fifth and sixth innings and brought an end to James Pazdera’s (Ramapo) day. Pazdera went six innings, only surrendering three hits and two earned runs while striking out six. 

The Blues scored two in the bottom of the sixth to push the lead back to seven and make it 9-2. But Mystic answered right back, scoring three in the top of the seventh to make it 9-5. 

Mason Glickman, (University of New Haven) came on to start the eighth inning and sat down the first three Schooners he faced, striking out two. Glickman came back out to start the ninth but got himself into a bit of a jam. 

 With runners on first and second and two outs, David Mendez (Vanderbilt) doubled to make it a two run game. Blues Head Coach Gregg Hunt turned things over to Kyle Emmons (Townson) to close out the game. But Maddix Dalena (UConn) doubled to bring home Mendez and all of a sudden it was 9-8 and the game tying run was on second base. Emmons was able to get Nick Locurto (Virginia Tech) to ground out to shortstop to end the game; and Bristol survived a ninth inning scare and escaped with a 9-8 win. 

The Schooners were able to do Bristol a favor on Monday night as they defeated the Newport Gulls by a score of 11-5. The Blues are now tied with the Gulls for first place in the South Division. 

Bristol will have a chance to stand alone at the top of the South Division tonight. If the Gulls lose to the Valley Blue Sox and the Blues defeat the Martha’s Vineyard Sharks, Bristol will hold first place by themselves. First pitch for Blues vs. Sharks is set for 7:05 p.m. 

Written by Ryan McKenna 

Photo Courtesy of Bristol Blues Instagram Page (@bristol_blues)