Mainers' Season Ends in Heartbreak
August 10, 2024 - New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL)
Sanford Mainers News Release
Sanford Mainers on game day
(, Credit: Madison Giltner Photo)
NEWPORT, R.I. - Coming into the days as winners of 16 of their last 17 games, the Sanford Mainers could not come away with one win over their final two contests as the Newport Gulls came from behind in the NECBL Championship Series to win the Fay Vincent Sr. Cup.
The Gulls came into the day with a 7-0 lead in the second game of the series, which was suspended in the bottom of the fifth inning at Goodall Park on Thursday.
Sanford had two runners on base when the game resumed in Caleb Shpur (UConn) and Evin Sullivan (Binghamton). On the first pitch of Saturday afternoon, the two of them took off on a double steal. Both slid in safely, but the throw from Greg Bozzo (Northeastern) ended up in the outfield allowing Shpur to score.
By the time that first at-bat finished, the Mainers had already scored two runs as Colin Barczi (Vanderbilt) launched a double to left-center field that scored Sullivan. That 7-2 score held until the seventh inning when Shpur missed a double of his own off the top of the left-field wall.
Shpur advanced to third base on a groundout by Sullivan before a wild pitch by Nicholas DiRito (UMass Lowell) gave way to Sanford's third run.
Sanford's third run was its last of the first game as Dirito and T.J. Curley (Stonehill) shut down both offenses.
"Those guys had struggled this series against left-handed pitching," manager Nic Lops said of using Curley the whole four innings. "I thought it would be the right guy to put in to give us a chance to keep it close, and it certainly was."
Despite not allowing a run on Saturday, Sanford lost the second game of the series as the Gulls' 7-0 lead from Thursday was too much to overcome for the Mainers.
Similarly to how they took the first lead on Thursday night, the Gulls took the first lead of the decisive third game of the series that started approximately one hour after the completion of the suspended contest.
Tyler Hare (Wofford) took the first pitch he saw from Tommy Ellisen (UConn) in the second inning over the center field fence, igniting the Cardines Field crowd and the Gulls offense.
Before the Gulls could add to that home run, Sanford got on the board in the top of the third inning.
Jared Davis (Virginia Tech) singled with one out off Kade Shatwell (Austin Peay). The next batter, Shpur, made it back-to-back singles to put runners on the corners for Jackson Tucker (St. John's).
On the first pitch of Tucker's at-bat, Shatwell attempted to pick off Shpur at first but was unsuccessful in doing so as the ball got past Matt Ossenfort (NC State). That error by the right-handed pitcher allowed Davis to trot home and Shpur to advance into scoring position.
Tucker, who appeared as a pinch hitter in the middle game of the series, then drove the second pitch of his at-bat into left field. The ball ended up resulting in a double for Tucker, which in the process moved Shpur across the plate as Sanford took a 2-1 lead.
That lead lasted over an inning before Newport got the bottom of the fourth started with a walk by Andrew Duncan (Florida State). Despite a lengthy at-bat that went full, Duncan was quick to advance around the bases as Dixon Williams (East Carolina) launched a two-run home run over the center-field fence.
"They built a team of very talented ball players from really good schools," Lops said of Newport's lineup. "They have a lot of good, powerful left-handed bats there. It's a dangerous combination in that stadium with the talent that they have in their lineup."
Williams, who came into Game 3, with just one hit in the series, did not have the only home run of the inning with Ossenfort joining him over the wall. Ossenfort's home run was a three-run shot that scored Nolan Stevens (Mississippi State), who had reached on an error, and Randy Seymour (Michigan State), who reached on a single.
Ossenfort's first postseason home run put the Gulls ahead 6-2, a score that held into the top of the seventh inning when the Mainers chipped away.
Shpur and Tucker went back-to-back with singles off Shatwell before Barczi walked to load the bases. With the bases loaded, Devan Bade (Binghamton) drove a ball into left field to bring around Shpur and Tucker as the Mainers cut their deficit to two runs.
An inning later, that same portion of the lineup not only erased the deficit but gave Sanford an advantage. After missing a home run by a matter of inches in the suspended game, Shpur cleared the left-field fence with ease on a two-run home run with two outs in the inning.
Shpur's home run, which traveled 376 feet, scored Blake Schaaf (Georgetown), who had reached on a walk with one out in the frame.
"Took the wind right out of their sails," Lops said of Shpur's home run. "We definitely got the momentum there."
The two batters after the home run, Tucker and Barczi, were both hit by pitches bringing C.J. Willis (Quinnipiac) to the plate. Willis, who came into that at-bat 0-5 in the series, sent a 2-2 pitch into right field that brought around Tucker for the lead.
"For him to be tough and hit the ball hard backside, that's when C.J. is at his best," Lops said of his right fielder. "He was a dude for us all year with the bat. He was playing through an ankle injury, so I appreciate his toughness and grit to get us the lead there."
Willis' RBI single scored Sanford's seventh and final run of the ballgame for Sanford as Williams robbed Bade of a two-run hit on an over-the-shoulder diving catch to end the eighth.
The Mainers held onto their lead behind a scoreless bottom of the eighth from Clay Robbins (Southern Maine). Robbins, who entered the game in the fifth in relief of Ellisen, went 1-2-3 in the home portion of the eighth.
"Just another lefty throwing a lot of strikes, changing speed that had them stymied," Lops said of Robbins, who was making his first relief appearance of the summer. "...I'm so proud of Clay. He did a tremendous job by just allowing us a chance to get back into the ballgame."
Robbins went out for the ninth after Sanford stranded Sullivan at third base in the top portion of the ninth. After getting the first out of the frame on a ground ball, Robbins allowed a home run to Hare that tied the game at seven apiece.
Beau Brailey (Alabama) replaced Robbins with one out in the ninth and allowed Tyler Minnick (Middle Tennessee State) and Ossenfort to reach base. With those two on, Brailey managed a flyout and a groundout to send the game to the tenth inning.
Sanford went scoreless in the top of the tenth despite Shpur's fifth hit of the game giving way to the top of Newport's order in the bottom of the inning.
Brailey hit Nico Brini (Wofford) with a pitch before walking Duncan. With no outs in the inning, Williams hit a ball to center field that proved enough to bring around Brini as the Gulls completed their second consecutive title run.
"This is a family," Lops said about the 2024 Sanford Mainers. "This is a Meese family. I'm going to remember this as one of the more fun summers of my life. I can't thank these guys enough for the way they played and the attitudes they had all season long."
The Mainers' 2024 season was their most successful season since 2016, which was their last appearance in the NECBL Championship. Sanford sat at 15-17 before putting together a wining streak that spanned 11 games and sweeping the first two rounds of the NECBL Postseason.
Images from this story
 Sanford Mainers on game day (Madison Giltner Photo) |
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New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from August 10, 2024
- Mainers' Season Ends in Heartbreak - Sanford Mainers
- Mainers, Gulls Battle for the Fay Vincent Sr. Cup Championship - NECBL
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