NORWICH — After two days off, the Mystic Schooners baseball team returned to action Tuesday night at Dodd Stadium, hosting Valley in an out-of-division matchup. The Schooner's late-game heroics came up short, losing 4-3 to the Blue Sox.   

Mystic opened up the scoring in the bottom of the first inning when Addison Kopack (University of Rhode Island) grounded into a fielder’s choice, scoring Anthony Donofrio (Quinnipiac University) from third.

Valley would not waste any time to answer as Robert Mattei began the second inning with a double to left-center field before advancing to third on a passed ball. Michael Cassaleggio would bring Mattei home later in the inning to tie the game. 

The score was knotted at one apiece until the top of the sixth inning when Valley would bring three runs across the plate. Sam Franco started the scoring with a solo shot to left field. The other two runs came on RBIs from Cassaleggio and Steven Luttazi. 

Mystic would chip away in the home half of the seventh when Tucker Flint (University of North Carolina Greensboro) blasted a triple off the right field wall scoring Charlie Pagliarini, who began the inning with a triple of his own. 

The Schooners tacked on one more run in the bottom of the eighth. The rally for the #SchoonSquad began with back to back singles from Donofrio and Eddie Micheletti (George Washington University). Then Kopak singled into right field, scoring Donofrio from second. 

RHP Jared Burrows (Bryant University) worked out of a bases loaded jam in the top of the ninth as he got Mattei swinging for the final out giving the Schooners an opportunity to either tie it or walk it off in the bottom half of the inning. 

In the bottom of the ninth, Flint reached base on a hit by pitch providing the tying run for the Schooners. He would then be brought around to third on a double down the left field line by Logan Allen (Bryant University), creating some late game sparks for Mystic. 

Mystic was unable to bring Flint and/or Allen home in the inning, dropping its second straight game. 

The Schooners will look to get back in the win column tomorrow night against Vermont.    

Game Notes: 

- Flint went 2-for-3 on the night, with an RBI triple. 

- Burrows was terrific out of the pen, pitching two scoreless innings and allowing two hits while striking out two. 

- Tristan McAlister (Mt. St. Mary’s University) went 2-for-5, with two singles.    

- LHP Reid Easterly (Yale University) had another stellar relief performance on the season, going 1.2 scoreless innings while allowing only one hit on three strikeouts. 

- Through the season's first nine games, Mystic paces the NECBL in triples. The team has recorded five triples on the year, two coming tonight from Pagliarini and Flint. 

UP NEXT: Mystic (5-4) will host Vermont (11-1) tomorrow, June 21, at 6:30 p.m. at Dodd Stadium. The game will be streamed on the NECBL Broadcast Network, with live stats and streaming information available on schoonersbaseball.com. 

Keep up with the Mystic Schooners baseball team through social media by following on Twitter (@mysticschooners), Instagram (@mysticbaseball, TikTok (@schoonersbaseball), and  `liking' on Facebook (/MysticBaseball).