Middle-Inning Misfortunes Mar Mainers' Momentum
July 13, 2024 - New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL)
Sanford Mainers News Release
Sanford Mainers' Ryan Kolben in action
(, Credit: Madison Giltner Photography)
HARTFORD, V.T. - One night after capturing a potential signature win of their season, the Sanford Mainers could not generate momentum as they lost 9-4 to the Upper Valley Nighthawks on Saturday night at the Maxfield Sports Complex.
After Andrelys Payamps (Iona) and Cole Schiff (UNC Asheville) traded zeroes in the first frame, the Nighthawks were the first to strike with a run in the bottom of the second in large part due to the bottom third of their lineup.
Gunnar Johnson (Boston College) reached on an error by Jared Davis (Virginia Tech) to jumpstart Upper Valley's offense. Johnson was followed by Matt Thompson (Kent State) and Chris Baillargeon (Holy Cross), who reached on a single and walk respectively.
With the bases loaded, Bryce Blaser (Louisiana Monroe) singled to score Johnson. The rest of the runners ran station-to-station as the bases stayed loaded for the top of the order.
"In the second-best league in the country, you can't take guys for granted even at the bottom because you're going to have top-of-the-order guys in the bottom of the order," manager Nic Lops said of his team's approach against the bottom third. "But, first and foremost, you have to attack them."
Against the top of the order, Schiff struck out Trey Christman (William & Mary), Michael Trommer (Bucknell) and D.J. Pacheco (Richmond). Those three strikeouts were half of the six that Schiff finished with and stranded the bases loaded.
Sanford matched that run in the top of the third as Jackson Tucker (St. John's) doubled with two outs in the inning. Devan Bade (Binghamton) brought Tucker around in the next at-bat as he delivered a single through the left side.
Bade's RBI single was his second hit of the contest as he recorded his sixth multi-hit game in his last seven games total.
Sanford traded that run right back to Upper Valley in the home portion of the third inning in the way of Cole Fellows (Columbia). Fellows reached on a triple to lead off the inning before Gehrig Frei (Mississippi State) brought him home on a ball hit in the infield.
The Nighthawks could not hold onto that one-run lead as Colin Barczi (Vanderbilt) matched Fellows' leadoff triple with one of his own. Barczi was nearly left stranded on third base when Payamps bounced back with two strikeouts, but Ryan Kolben (UMass) delivered a ball down the left-field line to bring him home.
"That was one of the biggest swings of the night just given the situation," Lops said of Kolben's third hit of the summer. "Those two strikeouts put a lot of pressure on Kolben in that situation, especially with his struggles this season. We love the fact that he ambushed the first pitch he saw."
Kolben's single was the last time the Mainers had the game tied as they would give the lead right back in the fourth inning.
The same three that Schiff had retired on strikes with the bases loaded in the second inning, got the best of the left-handed pitcher following a leadoff double by Blaser. It was Trommer and Pacheco with the run-scoring hits that knocked in a combined three runs as Upper Valley knocked Schiff from the game.
Kai Leckzas (Georgetown) took over for Schiff and managed around further damage. The Washington, D.C. native forced Fellows to ground out to first base before getting Frei to fly out to left field. When Caleb Shpur (UConn) caught that ball, he threw a laser to Kolben at the plate to get Pacheco, who was trying to tag up.
The three-run fourth was followed by a three-run fifth as the Nighthawks extended their lead up to 8-2.
To start the frame, Thompson walked and Baillargeon doubled, setting up Blaser's sacrifice fly that made it 6-2. An at-bat later, Christman brought Baillargeon, and himself, around to score on a two-run home run.
"I think what snowballed us was the fact that we were getting behind in counts," Lops said of his pitching staff's troubles. "Then we wouldn't trust our offspeed stuff leading to generic fastball counts that the hitters knew were coming."
The Mainers did manage to get a pair of runs back in the seventh inning as they looked to mount a big comeback for a second straight night.
Bade ripped a one-out double before Barczi laced a two-out double that scored Bade from second base. The Vanderbilt catcher was then joined on the basepaths by Corbin Lanowitz (UNC Asheville), who worked a walk.
The next batter, Blake Schaaf (Georgetown) singled to right field to bring across Barczi as the deficit was trimmed to four runs.
"I would definitely say that our offensive approach was our bright spot this evening," Lops said of his offense that managed nine hits and a pair of walks. "We had 20 quality at-bats, and I really like the way the guys were handling themselves at the plate."
Upper Valley upped its lead with an RBI single by Baillargeon that made it 9-5, a score that stood the rest of the way.
Sanford returns to action for its fifth consecutive matchup with a North Division opponent as the Mainers head to Montpelier, Vermont to face the Mountaineers. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
Images from this story
 Sanford Mainers' Ryan Kolben in action (Madison Giltner Photography) |
• Discuss this story on the New England Collegiate Baseball League message board...
New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from July 13, 2024
- Vermont First Team to 20 Wins with Road Victory Over North Adams. - Vermont Mountaineers
- Middle-Inning Misfortunes Mar Mainers' Momentum - Sanford Mainers
- NECBL Announces 2024 All-Star Game Managers - NECBL
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.
