Mainers Snap Skid With a 10 Spot

July 27, 2018 - New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL)
Sanford Mainers News Release


Laconia, N.H. - The Sanford Mainers snapped a four-game losing streak on Friday night at Winnipesaukee as they put up more runs than they had in the five previous games combined to drop the Muskrats by a final of 10-7. The Mainers jumped out huge early on with the bullpen doing their thing over the final five innings allowing just a single run and a single hit to give the Moose the victory.

After struggling to find an offensive voice over the last two weeks, the Mainers pounced early as in the top of the 1st they jumped out on top. Jake Alu (Hamilton, N.J./Boston College) and Jonathan White (Lawrenceville, Ga./Presbyterian) led the game off with back to back walks and with one away, Nick Howie (Oakville, Ontario, Canada/Eastern Kentucky) smashed a ball deep into the Laconia night over the left field fence to give Sanford a 3-0 lead, the first time they have scored more than two in a game in almost two weeks of play.

Winnipesaukee got on back in the bottom half of the first via the solo home run from Steven Passatempo to cut the Mainers lead to 3-1.

In the second inning, it was more of the same from the Moose as they piled on to their two-run lead with six more runs to take a commanding early lead. The scoring got started as Johnny Rizer (Cypress, Texas/Texas Christian University) was plunked with the bases loaded full of Mainers and brought home Carmine Pagano (McLeansville, N.C./UNC-Asheville). Next batter up was Howie who kept his night going by picking up an RBI single that scored Jake Alu. Following suit, Shane Marshall (Webster, N.Y./Binghamton) ripped a shot into right field and brought around another run as Johnathan White crossed the plate. Rizer would later score on a passed ball that got back to the screen, while the final two runs of the inning come home on a throwing error from the pitcher on a ball that should've gotten the Muskrats out of it. The Mainers jumped out to an eight run lead as they were well in control at that point, 9-1.

The Muskrats would not go away quietly though as they managed to plate three more runs in the bottom of the second on two outs to make the game 9-4 after just two innings.

The Moose made it 10-4 in the top of the 3rd as Jonathan White picked up his first hit on the game, an RBI single into right field that brought around Pagano who had led the inning off with a double of his own.

After two runs coming across in the bottom of the 4th for Winnipesaukee to cut the Mainers' lead to 10-6, the bullpen went to work and held the game right where it was over the next few innings. That started with Jake Dexter (Oakland, Maine/Southern Maine) who came on with one out in the bottom of the 4th and threw 2.2 innings of scoreless baseball as he allowed just a single hit. He was helped out in the 5th on a Sportscenter-worthy play from Johnny Rizer as he showed why he is the starting centerfielder for the Northern Division in this weekend's All-Star Game as he absolutely hosed the fastest guy on the field who tried to advance to third on a basehit into right center field.

Next guy up was All-Star Sean Fisher (Parsonsburg, Md./Maryland) who threw a scoreless frame, as despite a walk, he struck out the side fanning three of the four hitters he faced. Henry Curran (S. Portland, Maine/Southern Maine) pitched a scoreless 8th inning as he struck out one to keep the game at 10-6 as the game progressed to the 9th.

The Mainers failed to pick up an insurance run in the top half which meant the Muskrats would have a shot to come back in the bottom half of the inning. Enter John Murphy (Merchantville, N.J./Maryland), one of two Mainers All-Star closers, to slam the door shut and give Sanford a much-needed win. Even though a run came across on a throwing error, Murphy struck out the side to pick up his sixth save of the season and now has 28 strikeouts through 16.2 innings pitched.

Sanford, who desperately needed that win, heads back home for tomorrow night to take on the New Bedford Bay Sox at Goodall with first pitch set for 6:30. You can catch every second of the action live on the NECBL Broadcast Network with Mainers' Pregame starting at 6:20. Don't miss a second of the action as the Mainers look to make it two in a row as they stare down the barrel of a tough final week of the 2018 NECBL season.



New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from July 27, 2018


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central