Mainers Squeak out Victory to Halt Losing Streak
Published on June 12, 2023 under New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL)
Sanford Mainers News Release
SANFORD, Maine - It certainly was not pretty, but the Sanford Mainers found a way to snap their losing streak at three games as they defeated Upper Valley 3-2 on Monday night at Goodall Park.
For the fifth time this season, the Mainers let their opposition get on the board first. Sanford starter Cody Bowker (Georgetown) hit Christopher Worcester (Eastern Illinois) with a pitch and then allowed a two-out RBI double to Kevin Bruggeman (Hofstra).
In similar fashion to the first time these two teams met in which the Mariners made three separate comebacks during a Nighthawks' 7-5 extra-inning win, the green and yellow did not back down from a deficit.
Eddie Eisert (Virginia Tech) grounded out to begin the ballgame for the Moose, but the next three batters all reached base. Nick Roselli (Binghamton) opened that stretch with a single before Logan Poteet (Vanderbilt) was hit by a Teddy Tolliver (Lehigh) pitch to put two runners on base for Devan Bade (Binghamton).
Bade, who came into the game riding a four-game hit streak, delivered an RBI single to even up the score at one apiece. That single helped get the Sanford offense off the schneid after being shut out by Keene on Sunday.
When the top of the third came around, Adarius Myers (Louisiana Tech) singled up the middle after Tyler Long (Mount St. Mary's) was retired by way of a strikeout to start the inning. Myers took off for second base on a stolen base attempt that proved to be more than he bargained for as Poteet threw the ball into the outfield allowing Myers to get to third.
Myers stepped on home-plate as a product of that same at-bat as Worcester delivered a sacrifice fly to right field.
With the offense still struggling to produce runs outside of the Bade RBI single, the Mainers turned to small ball. Simmi Whitehill (Maryland) reached on a bunt single to start the bottom of the fifth before Matt Miceli (Stony Brook) laid down a bunt of his own that resulted in him reaching base on an error.
Eisert kept the streak going with a weakly hit single of his own to load the bases. Tolliver's night ended there for the Nighthawks and with the runners still his responsibility Will Taylor (Marist) came out of the bullpen.
Taylor's second pitch of the night ran too far inside and hit Roselli to put the game in another tie, this time at two.
A half-inning after Taylor escaped further trouble, Bowker found a way out of his own jam. The Maine native put runners on the corners with just one out, but got Bruggeman to fly out to shallow left field and ended the inning, and his night, with a strikeout of Ryan Cesarini (St. Joseph's).
Although Bowker's night was done on the mound after six-innings of two-run baseball, he was put in line in the bottom of the sixth. Jeremiah Jenkins (Maine), Kevin Skagerlind (UMass Amherst) and Whitehill were all hit-by-pitches to load the bases, and Miceli brought Jenkins home on a sacrifice fly.
Chris Gallagher (Wright State) and Zach Johnston (Wake Forest) held the game at bay over the next three innings to hold down the Mainers first victory since opening night.
Sanford will look to build momentum as they head to North Adams tomorrow evening.
New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from June 12, 2023
- Mainers Squeak out Victory to Halt Losing Streak - Sanford Mainers
- Cantwell, Hoffacker Guide Vermont to 4-3 Win over Blues - Vermont Mountaineers
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