Mainers Suffer First Loss in Extra-Inning Affair
June 9, 2023 - New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL)
Sanford Mainers News Release
Sanford Mainers' Noah Lewis on the mound
(Sanford Mainers, Credit: Madison Giltner Photography)
SANFORD, ME - You can't win them all.
Despite mounting three comebacks like they did one night prior, the Sanford Mainers came up just short, 7-5, in an extra-inning thriller against Upper Valley on Friday night.
For the second straight night, the green and yellow fell behind in the first inning as the Nighthawks' first two hitters, Adarius Myers (Louisiana Tech) and Kevin Bruggeman (Hofstra), jumped on pitches early in the count from starter Noah Lewis (Noah Lewis).
Myers singled on the second pitch of the contest while Bruggeman took the first pitch of his at-bat and deposited an RBI-double to put Upper Valley ahead 1-0.
Sanford catcher Mason Wolf (Monmouth) would not be outdone by his counterpart in Bruggeman as in the bottom of the second, Wolf hit a two-run single that scored Eddie Eisert (Virginia Tech) and Devan Bade (Binghamton).
Both starters, Lewis and Brendan Walker (Stetson), settled into rhythms after that with Sanford holding onto the 2-1 lead all the way to the seventh inning.
Lewis went five innings while allowing just the first inning run and striking out five along the way. Walker made it into the fifth but could not match his fellow starting pitcher as he was removed when the Mainers loaded the bases.
Luis Misla (Cortland) came on in relief to get Jeremiah Jenkins (Maine) to strike out and Eisert to pop out to end the threat.
The Nighthawks went ahead two innings later when Bruggeman delivered his second RBI hit of the game, which came in the way of a two-out single that scored Tyler Long (Mount St. Mary's). That single also moved Dylan Palmer (Hofstra) to third and he would come around during the next at-bat on a wild pitch by Ryan Dee (Binghamton).
With a 3-2 lead already in their favor, the Nighthawks struck for another one with back-to-back doubles by Ryan Cesarini (St. Joseph's) and Christopher Worcester (Eastern Illinois) in the top of the eighth.
The Moose did not back down, as Eisert struck his second double of the game and then Bade followed that with a two-base hit of his own to cut the deficit to one.
Bade was left stranded at third, but the Mainers came back for more in the ninth. Jack Toomey (Holy Cross) found his way to second on his first extra-base hit of the summer and one batter later Jenkins came through for his first hit of the season to tie the game at four.
Upper Valley played small ball in the tenth, laying down a bunt to move Garret Pike (Toledo), the automatic extra-inning runner, to third base. Pike went the final 90 feet to score as Cesarini delivered an RBI single.
Not to be outdone, the Mainers would have their own automatic runner, Bade, score on a sacrifice fly by Wolf in the bottom of the frame.
The Nighthawks gained the advantage in the top of the eleventh as two fielding errors by the Mainers proved to be costly. Michael Simes (UMass Lowell) threw an errant ball over the head of Jenkins on a sacrifice bunt by Bruggeman, who would then come around to score as Jake Bullard (Stetson) reached on an error by Cam Johnson (UNC Asheville)
Sanford will look to rebound tomorrow on the road against Ocean State.
Images from this story
 Sanford Mainers' Noah Lewis on the mound (Madison Giltner Photography) |
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New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from June 9, 2023
- Mainers Suffer First Loss in Extra-Inning Affair - Sanford Mainers
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