Sanford Stumbles in Doubleheader
July 23, 2018 - New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL)
Sanford Mainers News Release
Sanford - The Sanford Mainers four-game home win streak came to an end on Monday night after they were swept in a doubleheader against the Ocean State Waves at Goodall Park, 4-0 and 6-1. Despite not striking out much, the Mainers hits the ball hard but, unfortunately, right at the Waves fielders.
In game one, Ocean State was the home team, as this doubleheader was to make up one game rained out in Rhode Island, and in the bottom of the 1st put up four runs on just three hits to just out to a very stout early lead.
After that initial blow, the bullpen stepped up for the Mainers and kept one of the hottest offenses in the league at bay over the final six innings. Henry Curran (S. Portland, Maine/Southern Maine) took over after a rough first and didn't allow a hit in his 2.1 innings of work striking out one. Mike Vasturia (Medford, N.J./Maryland) followed suit with three scoreless innings of his own as he struck out a pair and surrendered three hits, just one of which left the infield.
Unfortunately for the Moose, the offense just wasn't there in the Monday matinee game as Jonathan White (Lawrenceville, Ga./Presbyterian) tallied two of the four Mainers' hits on the ball game.
The four runs in the first were all the Waves needed, as in a similarly eerie twist, the opposing team won game one of the doubleheader by a final of 4-0 with the opposing starting pitcher going for a complete game shutout. But, as is the game of baseball, on to the next one they went.
That is where the similarities ended for the Moose, however, as in the second game they fell by a final of 6-1 after two big innings from Ocean State, making it so every Waves run that was scored came in just three of the 14 innings played on Monday.
Ocean State jumped out early again as in the top of the 3rd they put up three runs on the board on the same amount of hits to take a 3-0 lead.
Darren Williams (Maysville, Ky./Eastern Kentucky) gave up the three runs but other than that was fine as in three of his four innings he didn't allow another run while racking up four strikeouts, three looking.
Sanford wasn't done just yet as they were able to chip back into the game by putting a run up in the bottom of the 5th. After Johnny Rizer (Cypress, Texas/Texas Christian University) singled to lead off the inning, he moved into scoring position on a Brandon Lankford (Mocksville, N.C./UNC-Asheville) infield single. Rizer came into score the Mainers first run on the afternoon after a Brad Czerniejewski (Lake Forest, Illinois/Texas Christian University) fielder's choice moved him up to third and a passed ball brought him in. That cut the deficit to two and made it a 3-1 ball game heading into the final two frames.
The Waves dropped the dagger in the top of the 7th though as they would plate three more runs on a pair of hits to put the game out of reach for good and took game two by a final of 6-1.
Sanford is going to need to rebound quickly as they will host the Upper Valley Nighthawks on Tuesday night at Goodall as the Nighthawks now sit just a half game behind the Moose for that 3rd and final spot in the Northern Division. Make sure to come on out and support your Mainers on Tuesday, or if you can't make it, you can always catch all the action live on the NECBL Broadcast Network with Mainers Pregame starting at 6:20.
New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from July 23, 2018
- Sanford Stumbles in Doubleheader - Sanford Mainers
- Newport Gulls People's Credit Union FANatic About Reading Night - Newport Gulls
- Reed, Reynoso Lauded with Week 7 Awards - NECBL
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
