Barrett's Gem Leads Mainers to Victory Over Gulls
July 7, 2023 - New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL)
Sanford Mainers News Release
Sanford Mainers' Seamus Barrett on the mound
(Sanford Mainers, Credit: Madison Giltner Photography)
NEWPORT, R.I. - It is normally said that to be the best you have to beat the best, but in the case of Seamus Barrett (Loyola Marymount) on Friday night he had to be the best to beat the best.
While it was a tough start for the righty on the mound for the Mainers, it was Barrett's seven-inning performance that propelled the Mainers to a 5-2 victory over the NECBL-leading Newport Gulls.
Anthony Donofrio (Quinnipiac) got the game started against Barrett with a ball that was ruled an infield single. Donofrio advanced all the way to third base during the next at-bat before coming around to home plate on a groundout by Trent Farquhar (Michigan State).
From there on out, Barrett seemed nearly unhittable, but the problem for the 6-foot-7 pitcher was that his counterpart was doing much of the same. Kevin Seitter (Quinnipiac) retired 13 of the first 14 batters he faced with the lone one finding his way to base being Devan Bade (Binghamton) on a base on balls in the first inning.
That streak for Seitter ended in the top of the fifth inning as Devin Russell (Maryland) reached on an error before Eddie Eisert (Virginia Tech) got to first on a hit-by-pitch.
After Seiter managed to record his eighth strikeout of the contest of his start against Simmi Whitehill (Maryland), Jack Toomey (Holy Cross) worked a walk to load the bases for Cal Hewett (Vanderbilt).
Hewett worked a walk that drove in Russell and knotted the game at one apiece. One at-bat later, Hewett's college teammate and teammate in Sanford last summer, Matt Polk (Vanderbilt) hit a ball into right-center field that cleared the bases.
Polk pulled into third base as Eisert, Toomey and Hewett touched home plate to put the visitors ahead 4-1.
Barrett went back to work with a lead and his groove continued all the way to the seventh inning. He entered the inning with 92 pitches and yielded a leadoff double to Tyler Hare (Georgia Tech), who found his way to third base on a single by Slate Alford (Mississippi State).
With runners on the corner, Barrett balked to allow Hare to score, which cut the Mainers lead to 4-2. The Moose on the mound finished the inning by way of a strikeout of pinch hitter Niko Brini (UConn).
That strikeout matched Barrett's season-high of ten, which was set in his previous start against Vermont, and ended his appearance after seven innings of two-run, six-hit baseball.
The Mainers got the run right back for their starter in the top of the eighth as Hewett deposited a 392-foot home run over the left field fence to put Sanford's lead back up to three.
Bryce Afthim (Southern Maine) relieved Barrett on the mound in the bottom of the eighth. Afthim allowed just a walk in his first inning of work, but he ran into some trouble in his second frame.
Hare opened the inning with a double before Alford knocked him in with a double of his own. Kolton Freeman (Dartmouth) kept the inning alive with a single before Afthim started a double play with a tapper back to the mound to end the game.
Sanford returns to divisional play tomorrow as they head to Keene for the third meeting of the season with the SwampBats.
Images from this story
 Sanford Mainers' Seamus Barrett on the mound (Madison Giltner Photography) |
New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from July 7, 2023
- Vermont Falls to Keene on Friday Night - Vermont Mountaineers
- Barrett's Gem Leads Mainers to Victory Over Gulls - Sanford Mainers
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