Game One of Semifinals Suspended in Seventh
August 5, 2024 - New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL)
Sanford Mainers News Release
Sanford Mainers' Caleb Shpur at bat
(, Credit: Madison Giltner Photography)
MONTPELIER, V.T. - After waiting out the inclement weather in Montpelier, Vermont, the Sanford Mainers and Vermont Mountaineers battled until the game was suspended in the top of the seventh inning with the Mainers leading 7-4 on Sunday night.
Following a delay that lasted nearly 1.5 hours, the Mountaineers took an early lead in the first inning, which featured two more shorter delays, as D.M Jefferson (Notre Dame) replaced Tyler Ganus (Northwestern) on the basepaths on a fielder's choice.
Jefferson reached second base on the fielder's choice as Blake Schaaf's (Georgetown) throw sailed wide of the target at first base. Vermont's designated hitter came around to score on a single by Brennan Hyde (Rutgers).
That lead lasted longer in real time than it did in game time as following that RBI single the game was put into the second of the two shorter delays. Bijan Anvar (Franklin & Marshall) escaped the first following a walk with a strikeout of Tyler Cox (Dartmouth), putting the Mainers to bat.
Ray Velazquez (Vanderbilt) was hit by a pitch with one out in the inning before a single by Schaaf put runners on the corners for Jared Davis (Virginia Tech). Davis grounded into a fielder's choice that got Schaaf out at second base, but Velazquez hustled home to tie the ballgame at one.
"Resiliency is huge, especially in these big games," manager Nic Lops said of his team's ability to bounce back from the early deficit. "We know and respect Vermont as an opponent. We know one of their strengths is their offense and ability to manufacture runs. They play with a lot of energy, we just had to try to match that tonight."
An inning later, the Mainers took the advantage over the Mountaineers as C.J. Willis (Quinnipiac) walked to begin the inning. The next batter, Colin Barczi (Vanderbilt), flew a ball to center field that was dropped by Josiah Ragsdale (Boston College).
Ragsdale tried to get Willis on a relay to third base but Cox overthrew the third baseman Brandon Fish (UMass Lowell), which allowed Willis to score and Barczi to advance to third. Two batters later, Barczi was brought home by Evin Sullivan (Binghamton) on an RBI single to right-center field.
Just as quickly as Sanford erased Vermont's first lead, the Mountaineers erased the Mainers' first lead of the night rather quickly. Jefferson and Hyde each launched no-out home runs off Anvar to begin the third inning and tie the game at 3-3.
"That first home run was an 0-2 pitch right over the middle of the plate, that has to be executed better," Lops said of that bottom of the third inning. "Then, a hung slider on the next one. We have to execute better because of the importance of every pitch, one pitch can change the ballgame."
Sanford put together the third consecutive 2-run half-inning of the ballgame in the top of the fourth inning to retake the lead.
With one out in the inning, Caleb Shpur (UConn) hit a solo home run over the left-field fence to give Sanford a one-run advantage. Sphur's 344-foot home run was followed by a walk by Jackson Tucker (St. John's).
Tucker came home two batters later when Barczi delivered his sixth RBI of the postseason on a single that dunked in front of Hyde in right field.
Two innings later, after Vermont got one of those runs back on a groundout by Ragsdale in the bottom of the fourth, the Mainers put another run across on a pair of singles by Willis and Devan Bade (Binghamton). Bade's single put Sanford's sixth run across as the Mainers took a two-run lead.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Ryan Douglas (Stonehill) forced Johnny Luetzow (Santa Clara) to pop out before the umpires put the game into a fog delay. That delay lasted approximately 20 minutes before Douglas threw three pitches to Josean Sanchez (Erskine College).
Sanchez reached on an error by Schaaf, but before Vermont had a chance to do anything, the game was put back into a fog delay. The second delay of the bottom of the sixth inning was met by two groundouts by Ragsdale and Ganus to end the frame.
After Douglas got out of the bottom of the sixth, Velazquez homered over the left-field wall on the first pitch of the top of the seventh. Velazquez's home run traveled 351 feet, putting the Mainers ahead 7-4.
"If you stay around the game long enough, you'll see stuff like this," Lops said of the game. "It's just part of it. It's what you sign up for. We say you don't have to be here; you get to be here."
Schaaf came to bat after Velazquez, but the plate appearance was never finished as the game was suspended due to the fog.
The Mainers and Mountaineers will pick the game up in a 3-2 count to Schaaf with no outs in the top of the seventh at Goodall Park on Monday. The restarted contest will begin at 5 p.m. before the second game of the series starts at 6:30 p.m. or 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first game.
"We need to prioritize nutrition, hydration and getting a good meal," Lops said of the approach for Monday evening. "...Just taking care of the bodies and most importantly taking care of the minds because baseball is a big mental game. The team that can be the toughest mentally will be the one that has success in this series."
Images from this story
 Sanford Mainers' Caleb Shpur at bat (Madison Giltner Photography) |
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New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from August 5, 2024
- Vermont's Season Ends in NECBL Semifinals against Mainers - Vermont Mountaineers
- Game One of Semifinals Suspended in Seventh - Sanford Mainers
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