Bats Go Quiet, But Skagerlind Walk-Off Leads to Early Fireworks
July 3, 2023 - New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL)
Sanford Mainers News Release
Sanford Mainers celebrate win
(Sanford Mainers, Credit: Madison Giltner Photography)
SANFORD, Maine - It was not the flashiest display, but a walk-off sacrifice fly in the tenth inning by Kevin Skagerlind (UMass Amherst) provided an early holiday celebration for the Sanford Mainers as they defeated the North Shore Navigators 6-5.
For the second straight game, the Mainers offense struck in the first inning. Nick Roselli (Binghamton) sparked the offense for the Mainers with a leadoff single before Cal Hewett (Vanderbilt) got on base with a hit-by-pitch and Matt Polk (Vanderbilt) worked a walk.
Two batters later, Logan Poteet (Vanderbilt) hit a ball into right field that proved deep enough to score Roselli and open a 1-0 lead.
The Navigators put runners on base in each of the first three innings, but Justin Honeycutt (UNC Asheville) escaped the first third of the game with his season-long 0.00ERA intact. In the fourth though, North Shore was finally able to navigate around the strong lefty.
A one-out walk followed by a passed ball put Luca Trigiani (William & Mary) in scoring position for Henry Kaczmar (Ohio State). The second baseman put a ball into the outfield to score Trigiani from second base and put the first earned run against Honeycutt this season.
North Shore was not satisfied with just the tie ballgame as a couple of batters later Jake Berger (Harvard) produced an RBI single of his own to put the visitors ahead 2-1.
Honeycutt worked around a runner in scoring position in the fifth to end his night after five innings of six-hit, two-run baseball. The North Carolina native's ERA now reads .78 through 23 innings, which places him second in the NECBL.
The rising senior came into the day without a decision, yet the Mainers had won all four of his starts, and before Chris Gallagher (Wright State) replaced him on the mound in the sixth, the hitters put Honeycutt in position for his first victory.
Three straight walks by Roselli, Hewett and Polk put Devan Bade (Binghamton) up with a chance to strike. Bade, who came into the day with a six-game hitting streak, drove a ball inside the left field foul line that cleared the bases and gave the green and yellow a 4-2 lead.
Bade's hit came off Colin Brodeur (Florida Southwestern State), who came into the game in relief of Brett Dunham (Northeastern) after Hewett's walk. With two of the runs on the double being Dunham's responsibility, the righty's line showed four-innings of work with two hits, three earned runs, five walks and three strikeouts.
The two-run lead did not last for long as with Gallagher on the mound the Navigators worked across runs in both the sixth and seventh innings.
Matt Chatelle (Merrimack) was the second batter to greet the right-handed pitcher in the sixth inning and he got on base with a double. After a single by the nine-hole hitter, Jake McElroy (Holy Cross), Berger recorded his second RBI of the day with a sacrifice fly.
An inning later, two singles by Evan Griffis (Stetson) and Brendan Jones (Holy Cross) set up Trigiani and Kaczmar with RBI opportunities. Trigiani recorded an RBI groundout to Cam Johnson (UNC Asheville) at first base before Kaczmar drove in Jones with his second RBI single of the game.
Nick Thompson (Colby College) stranded two runners in scoring position in the top of the eighth and pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to keep the game at a one-run deficit for the Mainers bats.
The Mainers, who already have two-walk-off victories this season, got the ninth started with a leadoff walk by Matt Miceli (Stony Brook) off Nick Davis (Northeastern). Davis got Roselli to strike out looking before he issued a free pass to Hewett by way of a hit-by-pitch.
Miceli moved to third on a wild pitch before Hewett moved into scoring position on defensive indifference a pitch later to set up two runners in scoring position for Polk. Before Polk had the opportunity to strike with two runners in scoring position, his plate appearance, which showed a 3-1 count after Hewett's advancement, was finished when North Shore decided to give him first base on an intentional walk.
Poteet came to the plate with the bases loaded and continued the streak of free passes. Sanford's catcher took all four pitches he saw for balls allowing Miceli to score and tie the ballgame at five apiece.
Davis managed his way out of the inning after he struck out pinch hitter Jeremiah Jenkins (Maine) looking.
In the top of the tenth, the extra-inning runner, Chatelle, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt, but Bryce Afthim (Southern Maine) did not allow him to advance as he worked a pop out of Berger and a strikeout of Peter Messervy (Harvard) to end the frame.
Needing just one run, Nic Lops turned to Simmi Whitehill (Maryland) as the extra-inner runner replacing Jenkins. A wild pitch allowed Whitehill to move to third and defensive indifference allowed Jack Toomey (Holy Cross), who worked a walk, to get into scoring position at second.
An at-bat later, Skagerlind, who entered the game as a pinch hitter for Johnson in the eighth inning, drove a ball to Messervy in shallow center field. Messervy made the catch, but his throw was off target which allowed Whitehill to slide in safely.
The Mainers recorded just three hits in the game, none after Bade's 3-RBI double in the fifth inning, but got the job done. They now look for their fourth consecutive victory as they travel to North Adams tomorrow for a holiday clash with the SteepleCats.
Images from this story
 Sanford Mainers celebrate win (Madison Giltner Photography) |
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New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from July 3, 2023
- Vermont Falls to Upper Valley in Game Three of the Governor's Cup Series - Vermont Mountaineers
- Bats Go Quiet, But Skagerlind Walk-Off Leads to Early Fireworks - Sanford Mainers
- Hannon, Thompson Take Home Week Four NECBL Awards - NECBL
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