Blanton's Walkoff Propels Waves over Schooners, 7-6

By Taylor Archer

Ryan Blanton of the Ocean State Waves hit a walk off home run in the bottom of the eleventh winning to take a 7-6 victory over the Mystic Schooners Sunday night at Old Mountain Field.

Sophomore right-handed pitcher Mason Perryman (Southern California) started on the mound for the second time this season for the Waves today. The Waves got on board first as Ryan Blanton scored on a double to right center in the bottom of the first by Tim Lynch. The Schooners tied the score up in the fourth inning with a solo home run by Ben Ruta (Wagner). The Waves answered back with a home run of their own as AJ Ramirez launched one over the fence to drive in two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, making the score 3-1.

The Schooners stayed in the game however, coming back in the top of the fifth, and taking the lead back in the sixth inning 4-3. Ocean State’s Matt Murphy (Assumption) replaced Perryman in the top of the sixth.

The battle continued as Palomaki drove in Helms and King in the bottom of the sixth to take the lead back and make the score 5-4. Hitting was contagious for the Waves, as Blanton then drove in Palomaki to give Ocean State a greater lead of 6-4.

Geoffrey Murphy (Boston College) replaced Matt Murphy in the top of the seventh.

David Gerber (Creighton) replaced Murphy on the mound in the top of the ninth, when Mystic threatened again, pushing two across to tie the Waves 6-6. In the second half, Palomaki walked in the bottom of the ninth, stole second and third, but was left on base.

Mystic’s Joseph Rivera (Connecticut) took the mound in the bottom of the tenth, and the Waves made another change as Richard Lovelady (East Georgia) took over for Gerber in the top of the eleventh. In the second half of that inning, Blanton launched his walk off over the fence and received a warm welcome from his team at the plate.

For the Schooners today, Ruta went 3-for-6 with two runs and two RBI and A Fava went 3-for-5 with a RBI. For the Waves, Blanton went 4-for-6 with three runs and two RBI, Griffin Helms (Kennesaw State) went 2-for-5 with one run, and Alex King (St. Louis) went 1-for-3 with one run and two walks.

The Waves are travelling to Western Connecticut to face the Danbury Westermers tomorrow nigh at 6:30 pm. Ryan Gray (Trinity TX) gets the start for the Waves. Tune in online as Tim Scott and Darren Zaslau bring you the action on the NECBL Broadcast Network.

Taylor Archer is the Media Relations Coordinator for the Waves. She can be reached at media@oceanstatewaves.com or found on twitter as @tay_archer.