McAliney's Masterclass Moves Mountains for Mainers
July 29, 2024 - New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL)
Sanford Mainers News Release
SANFORD, Maine - On the penultimate day of their 2024 regular season, the Sanford Mainers wrapped up their home slate with a rain-shortened 6-3 victory over the Vermont Mountaineers at Goodall Park on Monday night.
The Mountaineers, who already clinched the No. 1 seed in the 2024 NECBL Postseason, got on the board in the top of the third inning.
Josh Kopetski (Rhode Island), who worked around baserunners in each of the first two innings, allowed Tyler Ganus (Northwestern) to reach on a walk to kick off the third. Two batters later, Kopetski issued another walk, this time to Johnny Knox (Nichols College), to put two runners on for the Mountaineers' cleanup hitter.
That hitter, Beau Root (UConn), fell behind 1-2 to Kopetski before delivering an infield single that scored Ganus, who had stolen third base. During the following at-bat, Root was picked off at first base, but an error by Ray Velazquez (Vanderbilt) allowed Root to not only advance to third, but also allowed Knox to score.
Andrew Mannelly (Wofford) finished the at-bat with a ground ball to Velazquez. Velazquez took the ball to first base himself without a throw home as Root scored Vermont's third run of the game.
After Sanford issued free passes and free bases, the Mainers got on the board in the bottom of the fourth behind a pair of Mountaineers' errors. Casey Bishop (Towson) and Yoon Chae (Amherst) committed back-to-back errors allowing C.J. Willis (Quinnipiac) and Devan Bade (Binghamton) to reach.
The second error, which was the one committed by Yoon, allowed Willis to score and Bade to advance to second base. Bade came around to touch home plate following a pair of groundouts by Colin Barczi (Vanderbilt) and Evin Sullivan (Binghamton).
"You've got to win the free base battle," manager Nic Lops said of his team's ability to capitalize on Vermont's mistakes. "It's one thing to win the battle, but then to execute and make those hurt is imperative to a team having success...You limit strikeouts in those situations, put the ball in play, force them to make plays and good things will happen."
An inning later another error gave Sanford a chance to tie the ballgame. Caleb Shpur (UConn) reached first base on Bishop's second error at shortstop, prolonging the inning for Willis.
Willis, who came into the day following an 0-4 performance on Sunday, lined a double to the right-center field gap. Willis' 12th double of the season allowed Shpur to score from first base as the Mainers had clawed their way to a 3-3 tie.
Dan McAliney, who entered in relief of Kopetski following the third inning, worked his second straight 1-2-3 inning in the top of the sixth to keep the score tied.
"I tell these guys that you have to be your own best coach when you're out there," Lops said of McAliney, who has allowed one earned run over his last five innings out of the bullpen. "...It was a marvelous self-adjustment by Danny. It has a lot to do with his lead foot, his plant foot. Earlier in the summer, he was flying open, so he's cut himself off from doing that and now is pitching against a firm front side."
McAliney's third scoreless inning gave a chance for Sanford's bat to get right back to work on the heels of tying the game.
Barczi and Sullivan worked back-to-back walks against Max Moss (UMass Boston) before a passed ball allowed both to advance into scoring position. With the two catchers on second and third base, Blake Schaaf (Georgetown) pulled a ball into right field.
"He's been a different player these last couple of weeks," Lops said of his second baseman who has recorded 7 of his 16 hits this season during the win streak. "He's arguably one of our hotter hitters."
The California native's single scored Barczi for the go-ahead run and marked the third time in the contest that Schaaf had reached base. Schaaf advanced to second base before both he and Sullivan came into score on a left-field blooper hit by Mateo Hernandez (Austin Peay).
Hernandez's two-run single was followed by another scoreless inning pitched by McAliney.
"His last two outings have been his best of the summer,' Lops said of the New York native. "There's no better time to be pitching your best baseball than now. Danny has certainly developed a bigger role for himself come playoff time. He's a guy that we can trust."
However, between the right-handed hurler's fourth shutout frame and the home portion of the 7th, the game was called off due to rain securing Sanford's 11th straight win.
The 11th consecutive win for the 2024 Mainers secured the 26th win of the season for Sanford, the highest mark since 2016. Additionally, it locked in Sanford's position as the fourth seed in the 2024 NECBL Postseason.
"I think it really just comes down to the fact that these guys don't want to go home," Lops said of this year's team. "They really don't, and they want to keep this fun little streak alive...They love each other plain and simple. When you play as a family, when you play with some love, good things happen."
The Mainers finish the regular season with their eighth meeting against the Keene SwampBats. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
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New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from July 29, 2024
- McAliney's Masterclass Moves Mountains for Mainers - Sanford Mainers
- Vermont Drops Road Contest to Mainers in Rain Shortened Game - Vermont Mountaineers
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