Rumble Ponies @ Yard Goats

“Pitching duels are the purest form of baseball drama.” — Vin Scully

It was kid’s jersey giveaway night at Dunkin’ Park, but an overall light crowd given the mid-week game on a school night. We arrived early to catch batting practice, and sat in the right field stands for a bit. Eli got a toss-up and turned out to be one of the new minor league balls, which I didn’t realize were being used. The blue font is much brighter than the previous iteration.

The Yard Goats and Rumble Ponies entered the game tied, 18-13, both a half game back of the Sea Dogs. We got to see Ronny Mauricio on a rehab assignment, as he tries to make his way back to the Mets after 18 months off following an injury.

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UMass @ UConn

“A hot dog at the ballgame beats roast beef at the Ritz.” — Humphrey Bogart

We took the opportunity to see UConn host UMass at Dunkin’ Park while the Yard Goats were on the road, on what turned out to be a nice Tuesday night. This was our first time seeing UMass live, and third of the season seeing UConn.

There isn’t much more I can say about Dunkin’ Park than I have previously. It’s an amazing stadium to catch a game, with a beautiful field and extremely easy to get in and out. We arrived early to catch some BP, with Eli talking to players whenever he could. Before first pitch we headed to our seats, this time selecting the Home Plate Club which is a unique area, both for the proximity to the action as well as the slightly sunken seating.

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Patriots @ Yard Goats

“There’s nothing like Opening Day. It’s a new beginning, regardless of what happened last year.” – Joe Torre

Back to Dunkin’ Park with the family for Opening Day (night) of the 2025 season. While there is some player carryover from last season, a lot of the team was called up to Triple-A Albuquerque so we saw a lot of new faces. I was looking forward to seeing Cole Carrigg and Kyle Karros, as well as Benny Montgomery’s return after last season’s injury early in the year.

I didn’t notice many changes to the ballpark, other than the large Liberty Bank sign in centerfield. We kept our same seats as last season in the Stadium Club section. There’s nothing quite like Opening Day, at any level, and we were all glad to be back. We probably won’t get to as many games here as we did last year, as it was a lot, but we’ll see how it goes. Pre-game there was a cool C-130 flyover by the 103rd Airlift Wing, a unit of the Connecticut Air National Guard.

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