Sanford Smokes Steeplecats for Statement Win

July 7, 2018 - New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL)
Sanford Mainers News Release


North Adams, Mass. - The Sanford Mainers broke out tonight on the road at North Adams as they downed the Steeplcats by a final of 14-7 for a big bounce back win and to end their week-long road trip with a bang. The Mainers put up more runs tonight than they had in their previous three games combined as they climbed back into 2nd place atop the Northern Division.

The Moose struck first, something they have struggled with in recent weeks as Austin Lively (Redmond, Wash./Seattle) scored on an errant throw into left field by the Steeplecats' catcher to put the Mainers up 1-0 after the first inning. This was just the start to Lively's electric night at the plate for Sanford which we will get to in just a moment.

After the Steeplecats' tied the game at 1 apiece in the bottom of the 2nd on an error, the Mainers got it right back in the top half of the 3rd as Tyler Solomon (Haymarket, Va./Vanderbilt) put a ball to the left center field fence that brought Lively around once again and put the Mainers on top 2-1.

The top of the 4th saw two more Mainers cross the plate with two outs as Lively ripped an RBI double that scored Jonathan White (Lawrenceville, Ga./Presbyterian) followed by an RBI single off the bat of Johnny Rizer (Cypress, Texas/Texas Christian University).

Darren Williams (Maysville, Ky./Eastern Kentucky) was sensational in his first start of the 2018 season on the mound for the Mainers as he hurled four innings of three hit baseball not allowing an earned run while striking seven. He has been a constant out of the bull pen for the Moose but made his head coach Chris Morris look pretty good by coming out and dominating the way he did.

The Steeplecats were able to snatch the lead back in the bottom of the 5th however as they saw four runs come across the plate on two hits, three errors and three walks as the game moved into the 6th with North Adams on top 5-4.

Just like they did all night, Sanford had the answer in the top half of the 6th as Lively came up with two outs and smacked his second straight double, this time for two RBIs, to the right center field fence that scored both Carmine Pagano (McLeansville, N.C./UNC-Asheville) and White to give the Mainers the lead right back at 6-5.

After Jake Dexter (Oakland, Maine/Southern Maine) retired the side in order in the bottom half of the inning, part of the nine straight hitters he set down on the night after coming on in relief, the Mainers blew the game wide open as they dropped seven runs on North Adams in the top of the 7th. Solomon got things started with his team-leading 5th home run of the season, a gargantuan solo shot over the right center field fence that was a no-doubter to say the very least. Despite a double play that got two quick outs for the Steeplecats, the Mainers were just getting started in the inning.

Brad Czerniejewski (Lake Forest, Illinois/Texas Christian University) started the two-out party with an infield single that scored Nick Howie (Oakville, Ontario, Canada/Eastern Kentucky). Pagano followed up with an opposite field double to right field, which broke his 5-game hitless streak, and scored Czerniejewski from first. After two straight walks loaded the bases and a hit by pitch brought home the fourth run of the inning, Solomon came back up to the plate for the second time and put one back to the left field fence that popped out of the fielder's glove and cleared the bases giving the Moose a 13-5 lead.

The score remained the same into the top of the 9th inning as the Mainers tacked one more on for good measure on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Solomon that scored Lively once again. Lively racked up five runs scored and three RBIs on the night in just his second game as a Mainer and Solomon picked up four RBIs of his own on the night.

This was a huge confidence booster for the Mainers who had struggled to bring runners around in the last couple of games, especially as they move down the final stretch of the 2018 NECBL season. With the win, and an Upper Valley loss, the Moose jumped back into 2nd place atop the Northern Division as they head into a day off on Sunday before starting a stretch of eight games in seven days starting Monday at home against the Keene Swamp Bats. You can catch all the action from Goodall Park on Monday live on the NECBL Broadcast Network with Mainers pregame starting at 6:20 and first pitch set for 6:30.



New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from July 7, 2018


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