Blues drown out Waves in opening night win

On the opening night of the 2026 NECBL season, the Bristol Blues picked up a 4-2 win over the Ocean State Waves at Muzzy Field. 

The Waves threatened right away in the top of the 1st inning by loading the bases, but Justin Silverstein (High Point University) escaped without allowing a run. The Blues wasted no time getting the bats going. Anthony Ducatelli (Central Connecticut State) led off the game with a walk followed by a Colin Crowley (Winthrop) single. A passed ball and a wild pitch allowed Ducatelli to come around and score the first run, Crowley scored later in the inning giving the Blues a 2-0 lead after the first inning. 

 Brody Bitove (Indiana) started the second inning with a triple that allowed the Waves to cut the deficit to one, as Bitove came in to score on a groundout. But Bristol responded in the bottom of the second with a Julian Irizarry (Pitt) single along with a stolen base that helped the Blues push the lead back to two runs making it 3-1 after two innings.    

Ducatelli made a Willie Mays style catch in the fifth inning with two runners on and drowned out any chance of a Waves rally. The next four innings were a pitchers' duel, with neither team being able to find any offense. The score stayed 3-1 until Jack Larose (UConn) singled to bring the Waves back to within one run.  

Bristol got an insurance run off of a wild pitch in the bottom of the eighth to extend their lead back to two runs for the third time that game. Thomas Galusha came in and got the save for Bristol as they picked up the opening night win at home. 

"It's a very talented group," Blues head coach Gregg Hunt said. "Galusha came in and closed for us in the ninth which was huge because you've got to win close games if you're going to win in this league." 

Despite the Waves outhitting the Blues they were able to gut out a win and capitalized with runners on, whereas the Waves weren't able to get the big hit with runners in scoring position. 

"I'm really excited to play 43 more games," Galusha said. "Hopefully it's more with playoffs the fans can expect a lot of energy every night we're at Muzzy." 

The Blues will look to carry their momentum from the opening night win into their next game at Muzzy Field against the Vermont Mountaineers on June 5th. 

Written by Ryan McKenna