Mainers Blank Blue Sox
June 10, 2018 - New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL)
Sanford Mainers News Release
Sanford - On a gorgeous Sunday afternoon in Holyoke, Mass., the Mainers' pitching staff flexed their muscles as they buckled down to shut out the defending NECBL Champion Valley Blue Sox, allowing just five hits on the way to picking up their first road win on the 2018 season. Five pitchers took the mound for Sanford to combine for nine strikeouts and just three walks in the game, handing Valley their second straight shutout loss at home.
After a scoreless first inning, the Mainers struck first as Tyler Solomon (Haymarket, Va./Vanderbilt) launched his second home run of the season over the Valley bull pen in left field, scoring Conner Shepherd (Upland, Calif./Texas Christian University) who doubled to lead off the inning. A switch hitter, Solomon hit his first home run at Goodall from the left hand side of the plate while his second came from the right hand side off the Blue Sox starter, lefty Nick Dombrowski.
R.J. Hall (Marietta, Ga./Tufts) got the start on the hill for Sanford and threw three scoreless innings only allowing three hits while striking out two on the way to picking up his second win early on the year.
Mainers' Manager Chris Morris turned to right hander Dean Stramara (Pottsville, Pa./Towson) in the fourth to come on and throw a few good innings. Towson's go to reliever did just that as he stifled the Blue Sox offense over his three innings of work allowing just two hits and striking out two.
In the top half of the 6th inning, the Mainers tacked on the ever important insurance run as Conner Shepherd ripped his second hit of the game, this time an RBI double to the right center field fence that scored Nick Howie (Oakville, Ontario, Canada/Eastern Kentucky) who led off the inning with his first hit of the year.
Will Kazura (Saddle Brook, N.J./Felician) came on for the Mainers and got the Blue Sox to go one, two, three in the 7th to add to an already impressive night for the one of the deepest staffs in the league.
The bottom of the 8th inning saw a golden opportunity for Valley to cut into the lead, if not, tie the game as three straight one-out walks loaded the bases full of Blue Sox. Enter the Mainers version of "the Sandman," Jack Weisenburger (Rockford, Mich./Michigan), who answered the call as he struck out two straight batters to get the Mainers out of the jam and keep Valley off the scoreboard.
Weisenburger, deservedly, came back out for the 9th inning striking out the side in order to pick up his second save of the season and finish a great road game for Sanford that gave them their first road win for the 2018 season. Weisenburger has now faced eight batters in his first two appearances on the year and has promptly set every one of them down on strikes.
Sanford will be back home on Monday, June 11th, for one game versus a hot Danbury Westerners team at 6:30 before having Tuesday off. The Mainers will then head right back on the road for two straight against both Keene and Upper Valley, the start to four games in four days. You can catch all the action live on the NECBL Broadcast Network for every game or come on down to Goodall and support your Mainers as they look to keep the momentum going.
New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from June 10, 2018
- SwampBats Drop To .500 After Loss to Bay Sox - Keene Swamp Bats
- Mainers Blank Blue Sox - Sanford Mainers
- Upper Valley Blanks Schooners at Home - Upper Valley Nighthawks
- Jack Winkler, Austin Markmann Pace Another Late Inning Outburst in Bay Sox' 7-3 Win over Swamp Bats - New Bedford Bay Sox
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