BRISTOL BLUES 2025 YEAR IN REVIEW
With opening day of the 2026 NECBL season less than two months away, it’s time to look back at the 2025 NECBL season, beginning with the Bristol Blues.
The Blues finished the 2025 season 27-19, placing second in the South Division. Manager Gregg Hunt won the Joel Cooney Manager of the Year Award in his first season with the team. They made the NECBL playoffs, losing two games to none to the Martha’s Vineyard Sharks in the first round. Their season was defined by strong pitching, as their 3.83 team ERA was the best mark in the NECBL. Yet, it was the Bristol offense that stole the show in their game of the year, a July 15 matchup at the Shark Tank versus runner-up Martha’s Vineyard.
The Sharks jumped on Blues’ starter JT Landwehr early, tallying two runs in the bottom of the first inning to take a 2-0 lead. The Blues were able to answer in the second on an RBI double from first baseman Trevor Hansen. But after Landwehr issued a bases-loaded walk in the bottom half of the frame, the Sharks were up 3-1 after two innings.
The back-and-forth scoring continued in the third, as Thomas Ahlers and Gianno Merlonghi tallied an RBI fielder’s choice and a sac fly to tie things up at 3, before Martha’s Vineyard responded with an RBI single by right fielder Hunter High. After three innings, the Sharks led 4-3.
It was catcher Scott Gell who set the tone for the rest of the night, blasting a solo home run to tie things back up at four. The Blues followed up Gell’s homer with three straight singles and a sac fly from left fielder Mikael Petersen, giving Bristol their first lead of the night, one they would not relinquish.
Bristol’s offense continued to click in the fifth, as leadoff man Nate Lincoln smoked a two-run single as part of a three-run frame. Martha’s Vineyard mustered an RBI single from first baseman Brady Krzciok, but reliever Will Burns didn’t allow any more damage, as Bristol headed to the sixth inning up 8-5.
The Sharks struggled to find the zone in the top of the sixth, as two Martha’s Vineyard relievers issued four walks and a wild pitch. Bristol capitalized, as Gell and shortstop Luke Nomura each contributed RBI singles in a three-run inning. After six innings of play, Bristol led their division rival 11-5.
Designated hitter Dean O’Neill showed off his power to open up the seventh, hitting a leadoff homer to pad the Blues’ lead. For good measure, Bristol tallied two more runs in the eighth inning to go up 14-5.
While the Sharks did manage to scratch two runs across in the bottom of the eighth, it was too little, too late as the Blues secured a dominant 14-7 victory, as Quinn Sotero and Robert Lasbury combined to record the last nine outs.
This win had significant ramifications for the Blues, as it put them in sole possession of first place in the South Division with two weeks left to play in the regular season. Their 14-run output was a season high, and their 16 hits marked a relentless day in the batter's box. Every member of Bristol’s starting lineup reached base safely, and eight different players recorded an RBI.
Stay tuned for the next iteration of the 2025 NECBL year in review series, releasing Thursday, April 16.
The New England Collegiate Baseball League is a wooden bat college summer league that fields teams in all six New England states. Partially funded by Major League Baseball, the New England League started play in 1994 and has sent over 240 alumni to the Major Leagues, with nearly 30 alumni taken in the first round of the MLB Draft. For continuing coverage of the NECBL, visit NECBL.com and follow the league on X/Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
