Moose Topple the Steeplecats For Big Road Win
July 15, 2018 - New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL)
Sanford Mainers News Release
N. Adams, Mass. - The Sanford Mainers took a road trip to North Adams for a Sunday afternoon matinee, and series finale, as they came away with a huge win for their playoff chances by downing the Steeplecats by a final of 7-3. The Moose used their usual lock down pitching combined with some timely hitting to come out on top and split the season series with North Adams at three games apiece.
It didn't take long for the Mainers to jump on top as after a leadoff walk to Carmine Pagano (McLeansville, N.C./UNC-Asheville), Jonathan White (Lawrenceville, Ga./Presbyterian) climbed into the box and put a 1-1 pitch deep over the left center field fence for his first home run of the season to give the Mainers a 1-0 lead after the first.
Sanford tacked on another run in the top of the 4th which was set up by Brandon Lankford (Mocksville, N.C./UNC-Asheville) who led off the inning with a single and moved over to third on a passed ball and a sacrifice bunt by Josh Zbierski (Stafford Springs, Conn./SNHU). The next batter was Randy Bednar (Bethesda, Md./Maryland) put a ball to the warning track which was caught but plenty deep enough to score Lankford and put the Moose up 3-0.
Connor Yoder (Enola, Pa./Virginia Tech) was remarkable on the mound for the Mainers in his first start of the season as he turned in four no hit innings as he struck out six and allowed only a single baserunner. He threw more pitches than he was used to as he has come out of the pen for most of the season, but it did not phase him as he turned in his best start of the 2018 season so far.
In the top of the 5th the Mainers added to their lead as Tyler Solomon (Haymarket, Va./Vanderbilt) ripped an RBI single to left center field that scored White who started the inning by drawing a walk. Two batters later, Lankford ripped an RBI double into left field that scored Solomon and put the Mainers up 5-0 heading into the 6th.
The Steeplecats were able to get back three of those runs over the 6th and 7th inning but the Mainers maintained the lead thanks to Henry Curran (S. Portland, Maine/Southern Maine) and Mike Vasturia (Medford, N.J./Maryland) who turned in a couple of scoreless innings to send the game into the 9th with the Mainers leading the way 5-3.
Sanford did what they needed to do and put up a couple of insurance runs in the top half of the 9th to jump back out to a four-run lead. With one out, Johnny Rizer (Cypress, Texas/Texas Christian University) ripped a single back up the middle, his second hit of the game, and scored two batters later on a fielder's choice off the bat of Shane Marshall (Webster, N.Y./Binghamton). After Marshall advanced to second base on a throwing error by the second baseman, Lankford ripped his second RBI double of the night with two outs and put the Moose on top 7-3.
In the bottom of the 9th, John Murphy (Merchantville, N.J./Maryland) came on to shut the door as after surrendering a lead off single, he got a flyout and struck out the final two hitters he faced to send the Mainers home with a 7-3 win.
Sanford heads back home for yet another big divisional game as they host Keene for a second straight Monday night match up after the Swamp Bats edged the Mainers in extras a week ago. The Moose are firmly in the top three of the Northern Division as Upper Valley was beaten twice today by Vermont and are just a half game back of Keene so tonight could go a long way in decided that second spot atop the division. As always, you can catch all the action live on the NECBL Broadcast Network with Mainers pregame starting at 6:20. Head over to www.sanfordmainers.com for everything you need about the Moose and sign up for our e-mail list as you will receive updates after every game, even if you can't be there or listen.
New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from July 15, 2018
- Vermont Sweeps Doubleheader against Upper Valley, 10-6 & 5-2 - Vermont Mountaineers
- Moose Topple the Steeplecats For Big Road Win - Sanford Mainers
- Nighthawks Drop Doubleheader to Mountaineers - Upper Valley Nighthawks
- Gulls Capture 8-5 Win - Newport Gulls
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