By: Shannon Bickert

The Schooners are back in action on Sunday, July 19, following back-to-back off days to face the Ocean State Waves. Mystic comes into the contest at 20-13 on the summer, good for second place in the NECBL South Division standings. The Waves sit last in the South with an 11-22 mark.

Mystic leads the season series 4-0 and looks to go for the season sweep of the Waves in the matchup. In their last meeting on July 1, Mystic routed the Waves 13-3 at the Shipyard. Jack Harley (Stetson) led the Schooners’ offense with four RBI on three hits in that victory.

The Schooners enter the game off a doubleheader split with Danbury. Anthony Ruggiero (URI) hit two homers across the two games, and is now tied for the lead-league in home runs on the season with six.

The Waves come into the contest as losers of their last two games. On Friday, July 17, Ocean State fell 17-6 to the league’s best Martha’s Vineyard Sharks.

Ocean State sits last in the league in team ERA with a 6.24 mark. The pitching staff is first in the NECBL in walks, allowing 231 free passes on the summer. They average seven walks per contest.

Mystic enters the day with a .373 on-base percentage, which is third in the league. Something to look for in the game is how the Waves pitching staff tries to attack this Mystic offense.

Tristan Aasland (UConn) is the probable starter for Mystic. Aasland has struck out 17 across 14.1 innings pitched this summer. The start will be his second of the summer and his ninth appearance. In his last start against Danbury, Aasland struck out eight in four innings pitched.

Cooper Maher (Duke) is the Waves’ probable. Maher has pitched to a 3.21 ERA across 14 innings pitched this summer and struck out 15 hitters.

First pitch from Old Mountain Field is set for 6:30 on Sunday. Catch the live-game broadcast on NECBL+.