Mainers Fall Apart Late in Loss to Ocean State
June 10, 2023 - New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL)
Sanford Mainers News Release
Sanford Mainers' Seamus Barrett on the mound
(Sanford Mainers, Credit: Madison Giltner Photography)
SOUTH KINGSTON, Rhode Island -In what started as a pitching duel, the Sanford Mainers fell by a score of 6-3 to Ocean State on Saturday night in a game that was decided on late fielding errors.
Both starting pitchers did not want to be outdone by the other as Seamus Barrett (Loyola Marymount) and Blake Helmstetter (Fairfield) settled into early grooves on the rubber.
The two combined to set down the first 17 hitters of the ballgame before Barrett would allow Rob Butler (Rhode Island) to reach on a hit-by-pitch. But it was not until the following inning when the first run of the ball game would come across the plate.
Barrett loaded the bases for Christian Ficca (Georgetown) in the bottom of the fourth in part due to a walk and his second hit-by-pitch in as many innings. Ficca skied a ball into the outfield that proved to be deep enough for Matthew Graveline (Ohio State) to score from third.
It only took one half-inning for the Mainers to strike back as Jack Toomey (Holy Cross) recorded the first hit of the night for the Moose and Devan Bade (Binghamton) followed him up with a single. Although Toomey was thrown out by Graveline trying to score from second on Bade's hit and the next hitter Simmi Whitehill (Maryland) struck out, the Mainers struck when Logan Poteet (Vanderbilt) came to the plate.
Playing in his first game of the summer, Poteet drove a ball 383 feet to center field and rounded the bases to put the Mainers ahead 2-1 in the fifth.
That score stayed the same until the eight, but not without a little drama. Ocean State put runners on second and third in the bottom of the seventh inning, but Barrett got Butler to strike out swinging to retire the side.
His sixth strikeout of the game proved to be his last, as the Loyola Marymount hurler's night was done after seven innings of one-run ball.
With his team riding the momentum of escaping the jam, manager Nic Lops turned to pinch hitter Jeremiah Jenkins (Maine) as the second batter in the top of the eighth. Jenkins promptly unloaded a 418-foot blast to left field that put the Mainers ahead 3-1.
Despite having the insurance run on its side, Sanford could not finish the job. Ryan Scott (Maine) got the first batter of his appearance to tap one back to the mound for the first out before the next seven Waves reached base, three of them on errors.
Five of those runners came around to score as Eric Genther (Rhode Island) and Brodey Heaton (Belmont) delivered RBI hits while Kyree Miller (Charleston) brought one more home when he reached on one of the fielding errors. Zach Johnston (Wake Forest), who came in towards the end of that streak of seven straight, got two strikeouts to end the inning.
Ocean State brought on Colin Bosley-Smith (Duke) to shut the door in 1-2-3 fashion, entirely via strikeout, in the top of the ninth.
The Mainers return to Goodall Park tomorrow looking to snap a two-game losing streak when they face Keene.
Images from this story
 Sanford Mainers' Seamus Barrett on the mound (Madison Giltner Photography) |
New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from June 10, 2023
- Mainers Fall Apart Late in Loss to Ocean State - Sanford Mainers
- Vermont Has 3-1 Setback Against Nighthawks in Game 1 of Governor's Cup Series - Vermont Mountaineers
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