Schooners' Maiden Voyage Survives Turbulence

Kevin Kelleher, owner of the Mystic Schooners, likens the local collegiate summer baseball team's first season at Fitch High School to a restaurant operating a "soft opening."

"We're inviting people in to check out the food with the hopes they like it and come back when we have our official grand opening," Kelleher said.

The Schooners began the final week on their 42-game maiden season at Fitch High School's renovated baseball complex. In the New England Collegiate Baseball League standings, Mystic stands in fifth place in the Western Division with a 15-19 record. Its doubleheader loss to Vermont Monday all but eliminated the Schooners from playoff contention. Nobody can question the quality of play.

Quite simply, the Schooners are the finest collection of talent to play in the Groton-Mystic-New London shoreline, a team of skilled college underclassmen from the likes of Notre Dame, Stanford, Virginia Tech and other Division I programs.

While the Schooners have been competitive on the field, they stand dead last in NECBL attendance among 12 teams. The product is attractive and economical ($5 a ticket) but it hasn't drawn masses of followers locally.

Mystic has attracted 4,200 fans all season - an average of 250 a game. The next lowest total is Laconia (N.H.) with a 350 fan average. In contrast, the Holyoke (Mass.) Blue Sox average 2,432 fans a game this year and Newport Gulls average 2,015. Those are solid professional Class A minor league attendance figures.

"Holyoke has a great relationship with local youth leagues and there are about 21 towns within a five-mile radius of the stadium," Kelleher said. "Newport has a great location with its classic 100-year-old ballpark right across the street from the Marriott and many other hotels.

"I had hoped for at least 500 fans a game but I'm not disappointed," Kelleher said. "The fans who come have a great time. When you consider the difficulty of moving a team in the first year and the fact we didn't have a field ready until a week into the season, the attendance figures are understandable."

Kelleher and partners bought the franchise two years ago from former Red Sox GM Dan Duquette and moved the well-traveled squad (originally the Eastern Tides of Willimantic in 1994) from Pittsfield, Mass. to Bristol, Ct. Kelleher temporarily kept the team in Bristol for two years to play at Muzzy Field, an older ballpark that the Red Sox Class AA team once called home in the '80s.

Despite the inauspicious debut attendance-wise, the Schooners are here to stay for the next 20 years. And while the local community has not flocked to games, it will appreciate the $500,000 in improvements to Fitch's field, including lights, an outfield fence, new dugouts, state-of-the art infield clay surface, a press box and bleachers for 500 fans.

Renovating Fitch's high school field into an NECBL quality facility did not come easily. The Groton Board of Education did not settle on a contractor until spring. Renovations did not start until May and the field wasn't ready until a week into the NECBL season.

Kelleher agreed this has been a "transition" season.

"We didn't draw well in Bristol, but that was short-term," Kelleher said. "We looked at the demographics of Groton-Mystic and thought it compared favorably to Newport. My family loves it here. This is a great summer destination being around the water. We'll promote the team more in the off-season and secure more host families. We're committed here and I'm excited about the future."

Kelleher and the Schooners have made overtures to embrace the community. They honored the Mystic Little League All-Star Softball Team, which finished second in the state tournament by introducing each player along with the Schooner lineup before a recent game. Hub's Clam Shack provided food to a small but appreciative crowd during another recent game.

"We want to reach out to local youth leagues, offering the field for some of their games and running promotions to invite them to our games," Kelleher said. "One of our biggest projects for next season is to build a concession stand and improve site venues from the bleachers. When the grass grows in more behind the outfield fence, that will be a great place for kids to run around and watch the game.

"This season has been a nice building point," Kelleher added. "We've invested in Mystic and are looking to establish ourselves."