Sanford Pitching Gains Upper Hand in the Upper Valley
June 16, 2024 - New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL)
Sanford Mainers News Release
HARTFORD, V.T. - Three days removed from being swept by the Upper Valley Nighthawks, the Sanford Mainers got their revenge on Sunday afternoon as three pitchers combined for the shutout in a 3-0 victory.
Before any of the three pitchers took the mound, two hitters that had not yet arrived in Maine when the Nighthawks swept the two-game slate on Thursday provided an early run of support.
Jackson Tucker (St. John's) singled on the game's fourth pitch to jumpstart an offense coming off an eight-run outburst one night prior. With Matt Miceli (Stony Brook) at the plate, Tucker stole second base before advancing to third on a groundout by Miceli.
Two hitters later, Colin Barczi (Vanderbilt), who made his season debut alongside Tucker on Saturday evening at Goodall Park, singled to bring around Tucker for the first run of Sunday's matinee.
"I was really impressed by the job Barczi did there driving that ball the other way to get us on the board and get us a lead early," manager Nic Lops said. "That was big. Every run tonight was important."
Colton Trisch (George Washington) walked to the mound in the bottom of the first with that first run on the board and in his favor. The left-handed pitcher took the loss in his first start of the season, which came exactly one week prior also in the state of Vermont.
Trisch pitched a 1-2-3 inning that ended with a swinging strikeout of Gehrig Frei (Mississippi State). The Maine native followed suit with another 1-2-3 frame and two more strikeouts in the bottom second inning after the Mainers doubled their lead.
That extra run came in the form of Devan Kodali (Vanderbilt), who reached on an inning-opening single, coming around to score on an error by Chris Worcester (Eastern Illinois) on an infield single by Tucker.
Sanford did strand runners on base in the second, putting their game total at four runners left on base, but the two runs over the first two innings were an improvement that resulted from another improvement that Lops has seen in his offense.
"It was timely hitting," Lops said. "But, I've also liked the way we're trending in the strikeout category as well."
Over their last two games, Lops' lineup has struck out a total of 11 times after striking out an average of 12 times per game over its prior four games.
That lineup got one last timely hit in the fourth inning as two-out singles by Mateo Hernandez (Austin Peay) and Tucker kept the inning alive for Miceli. The shortstop of the Mainers kept a sharply hit ball just fair inside the third base bag that scored Hernandez and gave Sanford the three-run advantage.
From there on out, it was all up to Sanford's pitch staff to keep the lead intact, and they did.
Trisch pitched scoreless frames in the fourth and fifth innings to keep the score at 3-0. Trisch left the game after his fifth scoreless frame. The lefty on the bump struck out three batters and allowed just four total base runners on two hits, a walk and a fielder's choice.
"When your starting pitcher can set the tone like that, it really just paces the whole game for you on all sides of it," the fourth-year leader of the Mainers said. "He competed every pitch, kept changing speeds and kept those hitters off balance."
Chris Gallagher (Purdue) came into the game in relief of Trisch. The submarine-style pitcher posted a three up, three down inning in the top of the sixth inning, but worked himself into some trouble in his next two innings out of the bullpen.
Gallagher allowed three singles in the seventh, one of which turned into an out on an outfield assist by Kodali. The latter two of the singles caused a runners-on-the-corners situation for the Indiana native to work out of.
The second-year Mainer did just that as he forced a harmless fly ball off the bat of Carter Jagiela (St. Joseph's). The eighth inning saw another two runners reach on another pair of singles, but Gallagher worked flyouts by Frei and D.J. Pacheco (Richmond) to end the threat.
Conner Griffin (Binghamton) came out of the bullpen to lock down the save for Sanford. Griffin faced the minimum of three batters and got the final one, Cole Fellows (Columbia), to swing and miss at a 94-mph fastball.
Sanford's second consecutive win has them at 6-5 through the first quarter of the season with five wins against divisional foes.
"It's always been that if you can stick around .500 for the first quarter or even the first half of the season, then you're going to be in good shape come July," Lops said.
The Mainers start the second quarter of their 2024 campaign against Danbury on Monday night at Goodall Park.
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New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from June 16, 2024
- Vermont Secures First Place in North Division with 7-5 Victory over Keene - Vermont Mountaineers
- Sanford Pitching Gains Upper Hand in the Upper Valley - Sanford Mainers
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