Moose Swat Swamp Bats to Host 1st Round
Published on August 2, 2018 under New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL)
Sanford Mainers News Release
Keene, N.H. - After spending over eight hours on a bus and another two waiting for a chance to play, the Mainers stepped up on Wednesday night dropping Keene by a final of 9-2 to clinch second place in the Northern Division and the right to host Friday's first round game. Sanford's bats stayed hot with two outs and their pitching did the rest to send them back into the playoffs after missing them in 2017.
Just like they had in their previous four games, Sanford leaped on top early as they broke through in the top of the 2nd. After an error, a base hit and a walk loaded the bases with two away, Carmine Pagano (McLeansville, N.C./UNC-Asheville) roped his first of a pair of two-out, two-RBI singles on the night that brought home Nick Howie (Oakville, Ontario, Canada/Eastern Kentucky) and Shane Marshall (Webster, N.Y./Binghamton) to give the Moose a 2-0 lead. The very next batter was Jake Alu (Hamilton, N.J./Boston College) who kept the two-out rally going by lacing one through the right side that scored Pagano as the Mainers took a 3-0 through two innings.
The two-out theme kept going as in the top of the 4th, as with the bases loaded yet again with two away, Pagano tore into another fastball that he put into left field and brought around Howie and Marshall yet again to put the Moose on top 5-0. A walk to Alu would load the bases again for Jonathan White (Lawrenceville, Ga./Presbyterian) wore one off the shoulder to bring home run number six on the night. Johnny Rizer (Cypress, Texas/Texas Christian University) was up next and drew the third walk by the Mainers in the inning to bring home Pagano and give the Mainers a 7-0 lead after just three innings.
Sanford's hot night wasn't over just yet as they added a pair in the top of the 6th to take a 9-0 lead. After White led off the inning with a double, his first of two on the night, Marshall reached on a two-out throwing error that scored White. Conner Shepherd (Upland, Calif./Texas Christian University) joined the two-out RBI party as well by slicing his only base hit on the night into right field to put the Moose on top 9-0.
Ryan Twitchell (Cumberland, Maine/Rhode Island) was in a word, impressive, as he dominated on the mound from the first pitch on. In his six innings of work, Twitchell held one of the hottest offenses in the league to just four hits with no runs and struck out eight along the way, including five straight between the 2nd and 3rd innings. The strong start on the mound earned him his second, and most important, win on the season.
Mainers' manager Chris Morris went to his bullpen for the final three innings on the mound as Darren Williams (Maysville, Ky./Eastern Kentucky) took the bump. The tall, southern righty allowed just one earned run over the final three innings on just four hits while striking out a pair to close things out for the Mainers who roared back over this final week of play to take back their 2nd place spot that they had surrendered just a couple of weeks ago.
Sanford earned a much-deserved day off tomorrow before starting the 2018 NECBL Postseason by hosting this very same Keene Swamp Bats team on Friday night at Goodall Park for the first playoff action Sanford has seen since 2016. You can catch every second of the action on the NECBL Broadcast Network as Mike Glennon will have the call for what should be one heck of a ballgame as both teams play for the chance to take on the Valley Blue Sox in the Northern Division Championship series.
New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from August 2, 2018
- 2018 NECBL Postseason Field Set - NECBL
- Moose Swat Swamp Bats to Host 1st Round - Sanford Mainers
- Gulls Season Ends with 7-4 Loss - Newport Gulls
- SwampBats Downed in Regular Season Finale - Keene Swamp Bats
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