Opening day momentum shift leaves the Valley Blue Sox settling for tie
By Kate Endres
HOLYOKE– On a warm summer Thursday night, the Valley Blue Sox opened its season against the Newport Gulls with a 2-2 tie after 11 innings. While both sides started with quiet bats, the Blue Sox (0-0-1) found their rhythm, taking control in the first eight innings at Mackenzie Field. Valley rode six hitless innings from right-hander Dylan Reid and built just enough early offense to build a 2-0 lead heading into the ninth. While the first eight innings demonstrated a Blue Sox team in control, the ninth is where things shifted.
Reid was the story early on. Making his debut for Valley, he attacked Newport’s (0-0-1) lineup, holding the Gulls hitless while striking out six. “I just got ahead, making some pitches [and] hitting my spots,” Reid said. “It was good to get out here again. It was fun to get the Opening Day start.”
The right-hander’s performance echoed closely to his season at Brown University this spring. Reid finished the season for the Bears with over 59 innings pitched, a 3.77 ERA, allowing just 49 hits and four home runs across 10 starts. The Georgia native went 6-6 for Brown and earned Ivy League Pitcher of the Week honors in March after throwing seven shutout innings against Yale.
“The environment was good [being] under the lights for the first time in a while. I’m excited to see what’s to come,” Reid said.
The Blue Sox’s offense didn’t necessarily overwhelm, but it didn’t need to early. Anthony Tirado, the leadoff hitter from UMass Amherst, set the tone to start with line-drive singles to both right and left, which remained the only hits in the matchup until the fourth. His presence at the top of the order gave Valley an early spark.
“[Tirado] can spray the ball around, run, be aggressive on the bases, is really versatile defensively [and] just a really good all-around player,” head coach John Raiola said. “He plays with energy … it’s nice to see [and] he’s going to continue to get better.”
The bullpen followed Reid with three more scoreless innings from Alex Hill and Jake LeFrancois, and the Blue Sox carried a 2-0 lead into the ninth, where the game shifted the other way.
Newport’s momentum shift in the ninth came quickly. Leadoff hitter Chris Klug opened the inning with a single and moved into scoring position on a stolen base, setting up the Gulls’ first real threat of the night. After a strikeout briefly steadied Valley, Devan Zirwas delivered the inning’s turning point with an RBI double to left, ending the Blue Sox’ shutout bid and cutting the lead in half. A fielding error at second extended the inning and advanced Zirwas to third, and Ryan Jaros followed with a single to right that tied the game, flipping eight innings of Valley control.
From there, the match settled into a stalemate. The Blue Sox’s bullpen held firm after the ninth-inning momentum shift while Newport matched it pitch for pitch as the night stretched past three hours. Under NECBL rules, games still tied after 11 innings are recorded as ties. The matchup closed without a winner, leaving the scoreboard at 2-2.
“It’s good to get out here [and] good to see them compete,” Raiola said. “The pitching was outstanding [and] the offense will come. Wood bats, new place, under the lights … it takes time.”
The Blue Sox return to Mackenzie Field for Hall of Fame Night on Saturday, June 6, against the Ocean State Waves. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.