Blue Sox Tie Gulls on Opening Day

By Mary Merensky

HOLYOKE - The Valley Blue Sox’s Opening Day matchup against the Newport Gulls ended in a 2-2 tie.

The Blue Sox starting pitcher was Dylan Reid, and Mason Christopher for the Gulls. Both starters kept the first three innings scoreless, but when Newport made a pitching change, the Blue Sox took the lead. 

In the fourth inning, Newport brought in Mickey McClaskey to pitch, and he walked the first two batters. After Trevor Harmon popped up to first base, McClaskey walked Brett Rogers, loading the bases for the Blue Sox. 

The Blue Sox struck first as McClaskey walked Nico Soul, forcing in a run that sent Anthony Grabau home. Chris Cancel then hit an RBI single, advancing the runners once again, with Nick Tomasetto scoring the second run of the game for the Blue Sox. 

Dylan Reid dominated the first six innings of the home opener, giving up no runs or hits and striking out six batters. Alex Hill and Jake LeFrancois pitched the following innings and also managed to keep the Gulls from scoring. 

The Blue Sox held onto their 2-0 lead until the ninth inning when Chris Klug singled to center field off a pitch from Dom Ruggiero. Klug then stole second base after Ryan Novak struck out swinging. 

With Klug in scoring position, Devan Zirwas was up to bat when he hit an RBI double to left field. This play sent Klug home, putting the Gulls within one of a tie game.  

Cole Johnson kept the momentum going for Newport as he found his way to first base due to an error by the Blue Sox second baseman, which allowed Zirwas to advance to third. 

Ryan Jaros was next up to bat when he hit a single to right field, moving Johnson to second and sending Zirwas home, tying the game for the Gulls. 

The game headed into extra innings after the Blue Sox were unable to walk it off in the bottom of the ninth. Ruggiero stayed on the mound to pitch the tenth and retired all three Gulls batters. 

Jack Myers gave the Blue Sox one of their best chances to win the game when he hit a sacrifice fly, putting the ghost runner, Anthony Tirado, on third base. While the home team ended up striking out back-to-back, Jack Ensell was able to strike out two batters, and the Gulls got caught stealing third, which gave the Blue Sox one last inning to take the win. 

In the bottom of the eleventh, the Blue Sox found themselves in the same position to win, thanks to Harmon hitting a sac fly, which allowed Tomasetto to advance to third. Despite the Blue Sox's best efforts, Newport was able to get the next two outs, resulting in a tie game. 

While the Blue Sox would have loved to get the win in front of the home crowd, they will have another opportunity to get their first win of the summer when they return to Mackenzie Stadium to take on the Ocean State Waves on Saturday, June 6, at 6:35 p.m.