Mainers Affected by Weather as Two Games Axed
July 25, 2023 - New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL)
Sanford Mainers News Release
Sanford Mainers' Bryce Afthim
(Sanford Mainers, Credit: Madison Giltner Photography)
SANFORD, Maine - Due to a suspended game on Friday, the Sanford Mainers were scheduled to play two games at Goodall Park on Tuesday afternoon, but the weather got the best of both games and neither of the two contests were completed.
The first game of the doubleheader was the continuation of the suspended game that had gotten just three pitches deep against the North Adams SteepleCats on Friday.
With two new pitchers on the mound in Bryce Afthim (Southern Maine) and Nathaniel Chudy (Marist), the first inning went by scoreless despite the Mainers putting two runners on base in Nick Roselli (Binghamton) and Devan Bade (Binghamton).
After the Mainers stranded those two on the basepaths in the bottom of the first, the SteepleCats got their offense going in the top of the second in part due to an error by Bade at third base. A ball off the bat of Hudson Polk (Arkansas Fayetteville) took a tough bounce on Bade that allowed the first runner to reach for North Adams.
An at-bat later DM Jefferson (Notre Dame) single to put two runners on base, both of which advanced when Aidan Stewart (Delaware) laid down a sacrifice bunt in the next plate appearance. A wild pitch from Afthim allowed Polk to score and moved Jefferson to third.
Jefferson's advancement to third allowed a fly ball off the bat of Cedric Rose (UMass Lowell) to score another run and make it 2-0 in favor of the visitors.
Cam Johnson (UNC Asheville) started the bottom of the second inning with a fly out against Chudy, but before Matt Miceli (Stony Brook) got the chance to see a pitch, the game was put into delay due to a strike of lightning.
Over an hour later, the two sides returned with Miceli working a walk against new pitcher Harper Flint (Bentley), but then getting stranded at second base after a stolen base.
Afthim returned to the bump despite the lengthy delay and worked a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the third, before a triple from Bade and a walk by Logan Poteet (Vanderbilt) put runners on the corners with two outs.
Eddie Eisert (Virginia Tech) popped out to third base to end the Mainers best scoring chance of the day, which came one night after being blanked by the Mystic Schooners.
Ryan Scott (Maine) worked a 1-2-3 inning with the help from Levi McAllister (Albany), who made a heads-up play backing up first base on an error by Miceli to throw out Polk at second base, to keep the deficit at two runs.
The green and yellow got their offense going in the bottom of the fourth with back-to-back singles from Johnson and Miceli. A balk advanced both of them into scoring position, which allowed McAllister to bring home Johnson on a sacrifice fly to cut the deficit to just one run.
Scott returned to the mound for the top of the fifth inning, but just two pitchers into an at-bat against Rose the game was put into another lightning induced delay.
That lightning turned into heavy rain, which eventually led to the game being suspended and the following game against Upper Valley being postponed.
Sanford, which was already scheduled to play at Upper Valley on Thursday, will now have a doubleheader against the Nighthawks later in the week. There has been no official word on the status of the game against North Adams.
The Mainers are slated to host Vermont tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. at Goodall Park.
Images from this story
 Sanford Mainers' Bryce Afthim (Madison Giltner Photography) |
New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from July 25, 2023
- Mainers Affected by Weather as Two Games Axed - Sanford Mainers
- Vermont Blanks Keene on Tuesday Night - Vermont Mountaineers
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
