
Mainers Fall to Gulls in Back-And-Forth Affair
July 6, 2019 - New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL)
Sanford Mainers News Release
NEWPORT - The Mainers matched the Newport Gulls step for step in an early July contest at Cardines Field, but the hosts found a way to grab a 5-4 win in the final innings.
The Gulls got off to a hot start in the bottom of the first. After a leadoff strikeout, two consecutive batters reached on errors. A walk and a base hit quickly put them up 2-0.
Even though he allowed two unearned runs in the early goings, Mainers starter Darren Williams (Maysville, Ky./Eastern Kentucky) held strong on the mound. He retired the next three batters he faced, two of which via the strikeout, to get his outing back on track.
He received run support in the third inning as the Moose found their way back into the game. Following singles from Connor Tate (Bishop, Ga./Georgia) and Shane Marshall (Webster, N.Y./Binghamton), Nick Howie (Oakville, Ontario, Canada/Eastern Kentucky) saw a full count pitch he liked and laced it into the left-center field gap to delivering a pair of runs and tie the score at two.
The Gulls went right back to work the very next half inning. Consecutive one-out doubles from Brett Vosik and Justyn-Henry Malloy gave Newport a 3-2 advantage.
The Mainers restarted their bats once again in the fourth to level the contest at three. Ryan Turenne (Lynn, Mass./Maine) found his way on base with one out and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Robbie Armitage (Falmouth, Maine/Marist College) then deposited a fastball in front of Gulls center fielder Hunter Haskin to tally the tying run.
The offenses remained stagnant for the next two turns at-bat, but Newport found a way back into the lead in the fifth inning. A leadoff double from Scott Holzwasser set up Chris Hamilton to take his place on the basepaths, doubling himself to right field to pull his team ahead 4-3.
The Gulls looked primed to double their advantage one inning later. A walk to Peter Serruto and a groundout put a runner in scoring position for Holzwasser to drive in. However, Williams had no intention to gift the home team and their capacity crowd any momentum. He induced a weak popup to kill the rally and keep the Moose within one.
Williams would depart after six exceptional innings of work. In his fifth start this season, he allowed just two earned runs while scattering seven hits, walking two and striking out seven batters en route to his second quality start.
The top of the seventh inning saw the Mainers come back and even things at four apiece. Walks to Tate and Sterling Hayes (San Diego, Calif./Vanderbilt) coupled with two passed balls positioned runners on the corners and prompted a Gulls pitching change to try and limit the damage. A Marshall sacrifice fly to the warning track in straightaway right field pushed Tate across home plate as the equalizing run.
Not wanting to let the Moose continue to hang around, the Gulls found a way to pull ahead for good in the bottom of that inning. Representing the go-ahead run, Isaiah Thomas worked a leadoff walk and immediately advanced to second base on a Hamilton single. With the result hanging in the balance, Vosik lined a single to right field and sent Thomas home.
Despite an Erik Stock (Virginia Beach, Va./UConn) single in the eighth inning that brought the tying run on base, he could go no further, giving the Gulls a 5-4 victory.
The Mainers will return to action tomorrow as they travel to Alumni Field for the first time this year to face the Keene Swamp Bats. As is the case for every away game, you can catch the call starting at 6:30 PM on the NECBL Broadcast Network and 104.3 FM/1220 AM "The Legends" back in Sanford. Until then, stay connected with Mainers by visiting sanfordmainers.com and following the team on social media.
New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from July 6, 2019
- Cats Make It Three in a Row - North Adams SteepleCats
- Nighthawks Slip Past Mountaineers, 4-1 - Vermont Mountaineers
- Mainers Fall to Gulls in Back-And-Forth Affair - Sanford Mainers
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