Mainers Can't Capitalize on Opportunities in Loss to Sharks
June 24, 2023 - New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL)
Sanford Mainers News Release
Sanford Mainers at bat
(Sanford Mainers, Credit: Madison Giltner Photography)
OAK BLUFFS, Massachusetts - After struggling to manufacture hits for much of the season, the Sanford Mainers mustered 14 hats on Saturday evening, but could not put it all together as they fell to Martha's Vineyard by a score of 8-6.
Seamus Barrett (Loyola Marymount) was given the start for the Mainers, who were in their away green uniforms for their fifth straight contest, but saw his early-season success, which included a 3.95 ERA through his first 13.2 innings on the hill, disappear.
For the second time in as many outings, the 6-foot-7, right-handed pitcher yielded a home run to the second batter he faced. This time out it was Ryan McCoy (Louisville) getting the best of the former Louisville Cardinal in Barrett to put the Sharks ahead 1-0.
With Sanford struggling to string baserunners together in the early innings, the Sharks piled more onto their lead. Nolan Nawrocki (Clemson) was first to add onto the Shark's advantage as he drove in
Carsten Sabathia (Georgia Tech) with a double.
Nawrocki's two-base hit doubled Martha's Vineyard's lead to two runs and an inning later that lead would get doubled for a second time. It was double trouble as two doubles along with two singles drove in two runs with Scott Seeker (Mount St. Mary's) and Jayden Hylton (Stetson) delivering the RBI hits.
Barrett made a big pitch to get Sabathia to ground into an inning-ending double play to avoid any further trouble before he pitched a scoreless fourth inning, which allowed the Mainer hitters to start chipping away at the 4-0 deficit.
Devan Bade (Binghamton) and Cam Johnson (UNC Asheville) opened the fifth with a single apiece before Matt Miceli (Stony Brook) joined the hit parade. Miceli hit an opposite-field double right down the line to score Bade.
Christopher Scinta (Miami) struck out the two-hitters at the top of the lineup in Eddie Eisert (Virginia Tech) and Cal Hewett (Vanderbilt) to set up runners in scoring with two outs. Matt Polk (Vanderbilt) blooped a ball that was destined for trouble in right field, but Hylton dove and made the catch to end the inning.
Sabathia got his revenge for the earlier double play as he came back with two outs and runners on base. Rather than ending another inning, the Yellow Jacket hit a ball out of the reach of any Sanford fielder to plate two runs to put Martha's Vineyard ahead 6-1.
The two-out magic continued in the next inning, but for the Mainers instead. Logan Poteet (Vanderbilt) started the sixth frame with a double and just when it looked like he would join a growing list of runners left on base, he found his way across home plate on a wild pitch.
Bade continued his strong night with his third hit in as many at-bats as he kept the inning alive with a double. Johnson followed him up with a single that plated his first RBI since opening day against Keene that cut the score to 6-3.
Johnson moved up on the throw-in and once more on a wild pitch during Miceli's plate appearance that resulted in a base-on-balls. Eisert continued the two-out rally with a single that scored Johnson and one hitter later Hewett snuck a ball just past the second baseman, which turned into more than just a single on error, that scored Miceli and Eisert to even the score at six.
Facing a new pitcher in Zack Given (UMass Amherst), McCoy followed in the footsteps of his first at-bat unleashing a no-doubt two-run home run that put the Sharks ahead 8-6.
That score stood for the rest of the games as the Moose were unable to escape the jaws of the Sharks even after loading the bases with no outs in the top of the seventh inning. All three of those runners were stranded as the Mainers totaled 10 left on base for the game, including many in scoring position.
The Mainers look to avoid their third three-game losing streak of the season when they travel to Vermont tomorrow evening.
Images from this story
 Sanford Mainers at bat (Madison Giltner Photography) |
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New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from June 24, 2023
- Mainers Can't Capitalize on Opportunities in Loss to Sharks - Sanford Mainers
- Vermont vs. Keene Rescheduled to July 1 Double Header - Vermont Mountaineers
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