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The three-seeded Bristol Blues have advanced into the second round of the NECBL playoffs with a 4-1 victory over the sixth-seeded Mystic Schooners, completing the sweep. 

After the start of game two was suspended due to fog the night before, the conclusion took place at Muzzy Field, with Mystic as the home team. 

Up 2-1 at the time of postponement, Bristol tagged on two more runs, and Ryan Oshinskie (Brown) shut the door on the Schooners to send the Blues to the second round. 

Bristol's offensive leader was Jordan Peyton (Towson). The Blues’ shortstop went two-for-three while drawing a walk and recording an RBI. Four different Blues recorded RBIs in the two-day game. On the pitching side, Oshinskie was stellar out of the Blues' bullpen, throwing four innings of shut-out ball. In his longest outing of the season, the Fairfield native struck out three Mystic batters while walking none. 

Brett Seils (Towson) started on the mound for the Blues and pitched five and a third innings before the game was called. He allowed one run on three hits while walking two and setting one Schooners down on strikes. 

After getting walked off in game one by Bristol, Mystic got on the board first in this one in the bottom of the fourth. Drew Kron (UConn) would take ball one from Seils before sending the next offering over the right-centerfield wall at Fitch High School in Mystic to give a 1-0. 

Bristol punched right back, tying the game in the top of the fifth. Billy Sullivan (Fairfield) led off the inning by reaching on an error and advancing 90 feet when J.T. Landwehr (UPortland) grounded into a fielder’s choice. With two down and Sullivan on second, Jordan Peyton (Towson) stepped up to the plate, and roped a single into center, scoring Sullivan, and getting Bristol on the board. 

A double from Mika Peterson (Brown) and a double from Sullivan in the top of the sixth gave the Blues a 2-1 lead before the postponement. With one out, Peterson laced a double into the gap off Matthew Fletcher (Lasell) and scored when Sullivan did the same. 

Now at the friendly confines of Muzzy Field, the Blues, leading 2-1 at the time of resuming, added two more runs in the top of the seventh. With two on and one out, Dean Ferrara (Fairfield) would ground one past the second baseman to score Brady Short (CCSU) from second for the third Bristol run of the game. After Easton Brenner (Lafayette) and Ferrara executed a perfect double steal, Dean O’Neill (Maine) would ground into a six-four fielder’s choice, scoring Brenner from third to give Bristol a 4-1 lead. 

Oshinskie shut the door in innings eight and nine to complete the sweep of the Blues’ instate rivals and send the team to the second round. 

With the victory, the Blues will advance to the second round but do not know their next opponent. As the three-seed, they will avoid the one-seeded Vermont Mountaineers and likely play the second-seeded Newport Gulls if they take care of business against Valley. If Newport fails to do so, Bristol will likely take on four-seeded Sanford or five-seeded Keene. 

Written by Ryan Jainchill