Mainers Can't Steer 'Neers from Win Column
June 25, 2024 - New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL)
Sanford Mainers News Release
Sanford Mainers' Josh Kopetski on the mound
(, Credit: Madison Giltner Photography)
SANFORD, Maine - In the third edition of the 2024 season series between the Sanford Mainers and Vermont Mountaineers, it was the latter two of those teams that came away with a 5-2 victory at Goodall Park on Tuesday night.
Josh Kopetski (Rhode Island) and Nick Falter (Dension) got the starting nods from Nic Lops and Mitch Holmes respectively. Those two combined to face the minimum number of batters through the first 2.5 innings of play before Sanford's Devan Kodali (Vanderbilt) came to the plate to start the bottom of the third.
Kodali walked to kick off the inning and became just the second baserunner to reach for either side in the contest as the first, Johnny Knox (Quinnipiac), was picked off to end the visitor portion of the third.
Two batters later, Mateo Hernandez (Austin Peay) advanced Kodali to second base on a groundout to second base, setting up a runner in scoring position for Jared Davis (Virginia Tech). Davis grounded to Knox at shortstop, but an errant throw allowed the inning to continue and gave Sanford a 1-0 lead.
The Mountaineers, who entered the game on a six-game winning streak, struck back with two runs a half-inning later as Josiah Ragsdale (Iona College) and Cam Santerre (Stony Brook) both touched home plate.
Ragsdale tied the game when he came around to score on an RBI single by Brennan Norton (Jacksonville State). One batter later, Santerre scored on a sacrifice fly by Nic Notarangelo (Endicott), which also ended the inning as Corbin Lanowitz (UNC Asheville) threw out Norton as he tried to advance to second base.
Kopetski was removed from the game after a leadoff single an inning later by Braxton Meguiar (Georgia Gwinnett). The Maine native was removed after just over four innings of three-hit base in which he allowed two earned runs and struck out two batters.
"That was really promising to see out of Kopetski tonight," Lops said about the left-handed pitcher, who had only appeared in relief outings in 2024 coming into the Mainers' 17th game of the season. "Pitching in sort of unfamiliar territory, I think he put us in a great position to win that game."
Daniel McAliney (Binghamton) replaced Kopetski on the mound and promptly removed the leadoff single as he got JoJo Sanchez (Erskine College) to bounce into a double play started by Matt Miceli (Stony Brook) at second base.
The very next batter, Nathan Waugh (Georgia Tech), got the best of McAliney, however, as he launched a ball over the left-field fence. Waugh's second career home run against the Mainers put Vermont ahead 3-1 in the top of the fifth inning.
Vermont stayed hot in the sixth inning as a hit-by-pitch, a walk and an error loaded the bases for Norton. The third baseman for the Mountaineers worked a five-pitch walk to advance every runner up to another base including Ragsdale, who scored his second run of the ballgame.
Following the walk, Chris Gallagher (Purdue) replaced McAliney and followed suit of what McAliney did an inning prior when he came out of the Mainers' bullpen. The second-year Mainer got Notarangelo to ground into a double play, although this one scored a runner in Max Jensen (Cornell).
"He hasn't been as sharp as we need him to be early this summer," Lops said of Gallagher's efforts out of the bullpen. "For him to come out and command the zone with all three of his pitches was very promising. We're going to need that Chris Gallagher the rest of the way."
Sanford matched that run in the bottom of the sixth inning as a walk by C.J. Willis (Quinnipiac) and back-to-back singles by Ray Velazquez (Vanderbilt) and Lanowitz loaded the bases for Miceli. Miceli was hit by a pitch to force home a run as Sanford shrunk their deficit to three.
Looking for more, Kodali struck out and Ryan Kolben (UMass Amherst) drove a ball in the sky to left field. Kolben's ball was caught by Notarangelo as Velazquez and Lanowitz broke for the next bases.
Before Velazquez touched home plate, it was ruled that Lanowitz was tagged out at third base as the Mountaineers escaped trouble without allowing another run.
"That's been a bit of a downfall for us this summer," Lops said of missing out on scoring opportunities. "Seems like in a lot of our losses there is a common theme of stranding guys on base."
That three-run advantage held the rest of the way for Vermont as Chris Gallagher threw scoreless innings in the seventh and eighth before Adian Colagrande (Fairfield) followed with one in the ninth.
The Mainers are back in action on Wednesday at Goodall Park as they host the North Adams SteepleCats. Sanford will look to snap a two-game skid starting at 6:30 p.m.
Images from this story
 Sanford Mainers' Josh Kopetski on the mound (Madison Giltner Photography) |
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New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from June 25, 2024
- Mainers Can't Steer 'Neers from Win Column - Sanford Mainers
- Vermont Picks up Seventh Straight Win off of Pitching Prowess in 5-2 Victory over Sanford - Vermont Mountaineers
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