Blue Sox Announce 2018 Schedule
SPRINGFIELD — With a championship season now in the rear-view mirror, the Blue Sox turned their attention to the defense of their crown with the release of their 2018 schedule earlier today.
The 44-game schedule will feature 22 home dates this year, with the Blue Sox due to kick off their home slate on June 9 against division rivals North Adams.
They begin defense of their NECBL Championship four days earlier on the road in Mystic on June 5, the first of a three-game road stretch to open the season. This will mark the first year in five seasons the Blue Sox have opened the season on the road.
The Sox home schedule is noticeably back-loaded this year – with 12 games coming after July 11. The final home game of the regular season will be held on August 1, when the Sox play host to the Plymouth Pilgrims. The NECBL playoffs are scheduled to begin on August 3.
“We were pretty pleased with how the schedule played itself out this year,” said Sox General Manager Hunter Golden. “With the home schedule back loaded a bit, it’ll be meeting our fans at a point where it’s easiest and most convenient to get to our games. It’s also a load off the team, too – as when you get to that point in the season, attrition begins to kick in and with so much travel taken out of the equation, it should be a big leg up.”
More than half (13) of the team’s 22 home dates will be held on a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday – a feature of the schedule that should be a boon for attendance.
June
6/5 – @ Mystic Schooners
6/6 – @ Keene Swamp Bats
6/8 – @ Winnipesaukee Muskrats
6/9 – vs. North Adams Steeplecats
6/10 – vs. Sanford Mainers
6/12 – @ Vermont Mountaineers
6/13 – @ North Adams Steeplecats
6/14 – vs. Keene Swamp Bats
6/15 – vs. Ocean State Waves
6/17 – vs. New Bedford Bay Sox
6/18 – @ Sanford Mainers
6/20 – @ Upper Valley Nighthawks
6/21 – vs. Sanford Mainers
6/22 – vs. Upper Valley Nighthawks
6/23 – @ Keene Swamp Bats
6/24 – vs. Winnipesaukee Muskrats
6/25 – @ Newport Gulls
6.27 – @ Winnipesaukee Muskrats
6/28 – vs. Vermont Mountaineers
6/29 – vs. Keene Swamp Bats
6/30 – @ upper Valley Nighthawks
July
7/1 – @ North Adams Steeplecats
7/3 – @ Plymouth Pilgrims
7/5 – @ North Adams Steeplecats
7/6 – @ Winnipesaukee Muskrats
7/8 – @ Vermont Mountaineers
7/10 – @ Ocean State Waves
7/11 – vs. North Adams Steeplecats
7/12 – vs. Vermont Mountaineers
7/13 – @ Sanford Mainers
7/14 – vs. Mystic Schooners
7/15 – vs. Danbury Westerners
7/17 – @ New Bedford Bay Sox
7/18 – vs. Vermont Mountaineers
7/19 – @ Danbury Westerners
7/20 – @ Sanford Mainers
7/21 – vs. Winnipesaukee Muskrats
7/22 – vs. Keene Swamp Bats
7/24 – vs. North Adams Steeplecats
7/25 – vs. Sanford Mainers
7/27 – vs. Upper Valley Nighthawks
7/28 – vs. Newport Gulls
7/31 – @ Upper Valley Nighthawks
August
8/1 – vs. Plymouth Pilgrims
8/3 – NECBL playoffs begin
