Sanford Rally Falls Short in Ninth
June 15, 2023 - New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL)
Sanford Mainers News Release
Sanford Mainers' Jack Toomey at bat
(Sanford Mainers, Credit: Madison Giltner Photography)
SANFORD, Maine -Down to their final strike, the Sanford Mainers loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth inning before Jason Arrigo (Salve Regina) worked out of trouble to secure a 10-6 victory for the Valley Blue Sox on Thursday night.
Ryan Scott (Maine) surrendered the lead early for the Moose as EJ Kreutzmann (Columbia) drove in Will Gale (Seton Hall) on an RBI double to put the Blue Sox ahead 1-0 in the top of the first inning.
Jeff Pierantoni (Yale) helped Valley tack on another run in the top of the second in large part due to his speed on the base paths. After reaching on a fielder's choice, Pierantoni stole second base before a wild pitch allowed him to complete a steal of third base and come around to score.
Nick Thompson (Colby) replaced Scott after a leadoff walk in the top of the third but walked two more batters to load the bases. Thompson worked himself out of trouble with a pop out and fielder's choice as a zero was put up on the scoreboard for Valley for the first time.
After tiptoeing out the top of the third, the Mainers tiptoed their way to their first run as Eddie Eisert (Virginia Tech) trotted home following a balk by Nick Callano (Salve Regina).
Michael Simes (UMass Lowell) replaced Thompson on the bump with the green and yellow trailing by just one, but Simes, who recorded a save in 1-2-3 fashion against North Adams on Tuesday night, struggled to get outs in the top of the fourth.
The River Hawk righty hit the nine-hole hitter in Kohtaro Shimada (Western New England) to start the frame before a pair of walks, a trio of doubles and a sacrifice fly gave way to a five-run inning for the Blue Sox.
With his team down 7-1, Jack Toomey (Holy Cross) started the next half-inning with a double and two batters later came around to score when Kevin Skagerlind (UMass Amherst) delivered his second double of the game. Skagerlind came around to score two pitches later as Levi McAllister (UConn) registered his first hit of the summer.
Declan Lavelle (Fordham), who relieved Simes for the final two outs of the fourth, allowed a run in the top of the fifth on three straight hits by the top of the Blue Sox order in Eliot Dix (North Carolina), Gale and Matt Bergevin (Fairfield).
While it took Valley three swings of the bat to go up 8-3, that deficit was put right back down to four as one swing of the bat from Toomey put the fourth run on the board for the Mainers. For Toomey, it was his first home run of the season and the Mainers' first home run at Goodall Park this season.
Sanford's lineup continued to roll after Ryan Dee worked a 1-2-3 inning, the only such inning by the Mariners' pitching staff in this game, in the top of the sixth.
Eisert drove in McAllister and Matt Miceli (Stony Brook) with his second triple of the season to cut the deficit to a mere two, nearly all the way down from the six at which it once stood.
After a couple of scoreless innings, the Blue Sox doubled their two-run deficit by way of a double off the bat of Matthew Garcia (Missouri) in the top of the ninth. Garcia's second double of the night drove in Kreutzmann and Michael Zarrillo (Lafayette) to put Valley ahead 10-6.
The first two batters of the bottom of the ninth were retired quickly against Arrigo, who looked to secure a two-inning save.
Arrigo got Toomey to swing at a pitch outside of the zone, but the Mainer hustled his way down the first base line on a dropped third strike. Holding onto a slim chance for a comeback, Cam Johnson (UNC Asheville) worked a walk and Skagerlind followed with one of his own to load the bases.
McAllister came to the plate as the tying run, but Arrigo got him to swing and miss on strike three to end the ballgame.
The Mainers have an off day tomorrow before finishing a three-game homestand with a doubleheader against Danbury on Saturday.
Images from this story
 Sanford Mainers' Jack Toomey at bat (Madison Giltner Photography) |
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New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from June 15, 2023
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