Mainers Blanked for Second Time as Record Falls Below .500
July 6, 2023 - New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL)
Sanford Mainers News Release
Sanford Mainers on game night
(Sanford Mainers, Credit: Madison Giltner Photography)
SANFORD, Maine - The Sanford Mainers have tinkered with a .500 record for most of the season, and as they opened the second half of their 2023 campaign on Thursday night, they saw themselves fall below the even point with a 5-0 loss to Danbury.
Jack Mullen (Bowdoin) got the nod for the green and yellow in their second straight home game at Goodall Park and he opened the game retiring the first five hitters he saw. When hitters number six and seven came to the plate, Mullen's early success ran out.
Billy Gerlott (Penn State) hit a two-out double to keep the bottom of the second inning alive. Just two pitches later the seven-hole hitter Aidan Jolley (Georgia Tech) smacked a two-out double of his own that brought in Gerlott and opened the scoring for the Westerners.
Sanford tried its own two-out magic an inning later when Nick Roselli (Binghamton) and Cal Hewett (Vanderbilt) kept the bottom of the third alive with a pair of singles. It was Roselli's second single of the night, but he was stranded at second base to end the frame as his college teammate Devan Bade (Binghamton) flew out to center field.
Mullen worked around a leadoff walk in the fourth, but in the fifth the righty on the bump was unable to work around a leadoff single.
Jolley started the frame with a single and after Mullen got the next two batters out in order, the two-out magic returned for Danbury. Sam Mongelli (Sacred Heart) worked a walk before Drew Wyers (Stetson) knocked in Jolley with an RBI single to double up the lead.
The sixth inning proved to not be easy for Mullen either as the second hitter of the frame, Bobby Zmarzlak (Maryland), worked a walk and was able to move to second on an error that allowed Gerlott to reach for the second time.
Jolley, who had an error that allowed the Mainers to walk-off the first meeting between these two teams, delivered again with his second RBI of the night that proved to end the night for Mullen.
Mullen's line was finished after Ryan Scott (Maine) allowed Gerlott to score on a sacrifice fly by Daniel Labrador (Stetson). The second-year member of the Mainers allowed four runs, three of which were earned, six hits and three walks while striking out two over 5.1 innings on the rubber.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Mainers, who were facing the first arm out of the bullpen in Alex Mach (UConn), put runners on base with just one out. Bade worked a walk and Logan Poteet (Vanderbilt) singled one at-bat later to set up Eddie Eisert (Virginia Tech) with a chance to get the first run across for the home squad.
Mach continued the success of Michael Szturma (Southern Connecticut State), who went five shutout innings of four-hit, six-strikeout baseball, as he got Eisert and Cam Johnson (UNC Asheville) to fly out to end the threat.
Three straight singles by the Westerners put another run across in the top of the seventh against Scott with Zmarzlak's base hit, which was the last of the three, driving in Feinberg.
Bade and Poteet attempted to spark a rally again in the eighth inning with a single apiece, but with two outs Eisert drove a ball into the right-center field cap that Feinberg ran a long way for but came away with the ball in his glove for out number three.
Levi McAllister (UConn) put himself on base with a double that came with two-outs in the bottom of the ninth, but nothing got going from that as the Mainers never saw a runner advance to third base in the game.
Sanford looks to rebound tomorrow as it travels to Cardines Field for a clash with the Newport Gulls in an event that will be broadcasted exclusively on ESPN+.
Images from this story
 Sanford Mainers on game night (Madison Giltner Photography) |
New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from July 6, 2023
- Mainers Blanked for Second Time as Record Falls Below .500 - Sanford Mainers
- Vermont Dropped Extra-Inning Contest to Valley in Game One of DoubleHeader - Vermont Mountaineers
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