By Michael Letendre
BRISTOL – The Bristol Blues of the New England Collegiate Baseball League continue to hang around .500 this season – keeping pace with some of the top squads in the league.
As of Sunday morning, the Blues are 12-13 with one tie to their name.
Bristol is just a game out of first place, trailing Western Division leading Valley Blue Sox by a single game (14-14).
In fact, the top three teams in the West are separated by only two games.
The third place Danbury Westerners (11-15) are just two games out of the top spot.
Tonight, Bristol and Danbury tangle from Muzzy Field at 5 p.m.
Over the past 10 games, Bristol is the only squad from the West to have a record better than .500 (5-4-1).
North Adams (7-18) is at the bottom of the standings but went 4-6 over its past 10 contests, showing vast improvement as of late.
In the Costal Division, the Newport Gulls (21-5) have the best record in the NECBL and are running away with things.
And in the North, the Vermont Mountaineers are hanging in the first place chase (17-10-1) while the Upper Valley Nighthawks (14-9) are right in the mix as well.
Bristol batting check
The one thing you can count on with the Blues is the squad can hit the long ball a time or two during the season.
This season, Blues’ slugger Daniel Hussey has three homers in just 43 at-bats.
He’s second on the squad in RBI as well with 13.
Gavin Noriega is the current leader in RBI with 15 while his batting average of .284 is one of the top marks on the Bristol squad.
He’s currently 23-of-81 from the plate, scoring nine runs along the way.
Those 23 hits also lead the Bristol program.
Billy Sullivan has 16 hits while Cal Parrillo and Skye Selinsky each have contributed 11.
Dixon Black has 10 hits for the Blues this season.
How about the pitching?
Former Bristol Eastern standout Jagger Duquette has put together a pretty complete season.
He’s thrown over 20 innings, fanning 17, walking just four while carrying a tremendous ERA of 1.32.
His strikeout total is good for third place on the team.
Duquette has started four games, carries an overall record of 1-0, allowed nine hits and carries a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 4.3-to-1.
His lone win came on June 16 in Bristol’s 4-1 triumph over Keene.
In five innings, Duquette chucked a five-inning shutout that saw him yield just one hit while striking out a half dozen batters.
Justin Solimine and Luke Benneche each have complied 22 Ks while Mason Ulsh and Peter Phillips (two saves) are both 2-1 this season.
And Brent Francisco has three saves in 6.2 innings of action, carrying a clean ERA of 0.00 out of the bullpen.
Lots of ball left to be played
Over the next eight days, the Blues will be in the thick of it in terms of NECBL action.
On Monday, the Blues travel to North Shore but the squad won’t be on the road for long.
Wednesday sees Bristol back in action from Muzzy Field as the squad squares off against Danbury (6:30 p.m.).
On Thursday, North Adams invades Bristol while the following day, Valley shows up to town for a big tilt.
Both contests commence at 6:30 p.m.
This coming Saturday, the Blues take a trip to square off against North Adams (5 p.m.) before returning to the Mum City on Sunday.
Bristol battles Sanford on Sunday evening at 5 p.m. at Muzzy.
Coaches
The Blues are managed by Tim Binkowski while former Bristol Merchants standout Kevin Rival is the pitching coach.
Mark Stephens is the Blues hitting coach in 2023.
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