After a year off, Schooners will resume June 3
Long can’t wait for the first pitch; Mystic scheduled to have four locals on the roster
After enduring a summer without Mystic Schooners baseball, Dennis Long can't wait for the first pitch of the 2021 season.
Mystic returns to New England Collegiate Baseball League action on June 3 after the league canceled last season due to the pandemic.
Long, Mystic's co-owner, general manager and pitching coach, will be in the dugout on opening day as well as manager Phil Orbe and the rest of the Mystic staff.
“Phil and I are really looking forward to getting back on the field,” Long said. “I missed it a lot.”
Last spring, league officials made the difficult but smart decision to not play the 2020 season, which would have been Mystic's 10th in the NECBL. Long took advantage of the break to get the business side of the organization in order.
When the Schooners play their season opener at home, it will be their first game in 670 days. They ended the 2019 season with a 5-2 loss to host Newport in the Southern Division wild card game at Cardines Field. They finished third in their division.
The Schooners are one of the NECBL's most successful franchises. They own the longest active streak for playoff appearances, reaching the postseason in seven straight years and winning the championship in 2016.
Long expects Mystic will have another strong team this season. He talks with Orbe almost daily about the roster, which includes Rutgers infielder Chris Brito who leads the Big Ten in RBI (27) and is tied for first in home runs (nine) through 17 games.
“We really like our roster,” Long said. “Our pitching staff looks really good based on the numbers being put up in the spring. It's going to be fun to see these guys and see what they can do.”
In fact, the talent level league-wide may be the best in years, according to Long who expects more pitchers to be available to play this summer due to shortened college baseball schedules this spring.
“The rosters will be pretty hardy as far as talent,” Long said. “We're going to see
see some front-line pitchers that we haven’t had in the past coming to pitch. It will provide some high, high quality baseball. College schedules aren’t as busy, so pitchers will not be restricted by innings. We’re going to have guys letting it fly and showing their stuff.”
Four players with local ties will compete this summer for the Schooners, who play their home games at Fitch High School. East Lyme’s Trystan Levesque, who plays for Rhode Island, and Waterford’s Jared Burrows (Hartford), will be on the pitching staff. Holy Cross outfielder Ben Dellacono, who’s from Stonington, and infielder Petey Kiefer, a Waterford graduate who plays for Black Hawk College in Illinois, also are on the roster.
Long’s biggest challenge will come off the field, as he tries to line up host families. He’s urging his players to get fully vaccinated before arriving in southeastern Connecticut for the summer.
“Let’s face it, right now the host families are a challenge,” Long said. “Most of the families are saying if players are vaccinated, they’re comfortable. Everything else is falling into place.”
The NECBL game day experience will look a little different this summer as the league will be following health and safety guidelines and restrictions.
Travel will be limited as teams will play only opponents within their own division during the regular season, which runs from early June to early August. Masks will be required as well as social distancing in the dugouts.
“Masks will be part of the landscape for us,” Long said.
“We’re going to figure out social distancing with the dugouts. Maybe spreading out players up the right field and left field lines. Still a lot of meetings with the league to determine the details.”
But NECBL baseball will be played again by the league’s 13 teams spread around six New England states.
“A lot of the teams are excited,” Long said. “The kids are excited about coming. It feels good to be thinking about it. It’s going to be fun. It will be good to be out there again.” g.keefe@theday.com