Sanford Sweeps SwampBats, Advances to Semifinals
August 3, 2024 - New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL)
Sanford Mainers News Release
Sanford Mainers celebrate win
()
KEENE, N.H. - One day after inclement weather delayed the Sanford Mainers' chance to advance to the 2024 NECBL Semifinals, the Mainers used a fifth-inning grand slam by Colin Barczi (Vanderbilt) to beat the Keene SwampBats 6-3 at Alumni Field on Saturday night.
For the second consecutive game, Sanford got out to its lead in the second inning after a 1-2-3 top of the first inning against Josh Gunther (Wake Forest). Gunther hit Devan Bade (Binghamton) with a pitch before issuing walks to both Blake Schaaf (Georgetown) and Ray Velazquez (Vanderbilt).
Velazquez's walk loaded the bases, and two batters later Jared Davis (Virginia Tech) came to the plate with two outs in the inning. Davis sent a ball 328 feet to the left-center field wall that scored both Bade and Schaaf.
"I don't think he's a true nine-hole hitter, but he certainly fills that need in our ballclub right now," manager Nic Lops said of Davis. "...That was big with two outs there, we call that being clutch. Like any game, you want to strike first, especially a playoff game."
Davis was thrown out attempting to stretch the single into a double, however, his two-run single stood until the fifth inning as Tommy Ellisen (UConn) shut down the SwampBats at the plate. After Ellisen's fourth inning of work, which included a pair of swinging strikeouts, Davis' single was added to.
Sanford's left fielder, Davis, jump-started the Mainers lineup from the nine-hole with a double down the right-field line. Davis was joined on base by Caleb Shpur (UConn), who was hit-by-a-pitch, before being replaced on the basepaths when Jackson Tucker (St. John's) grounded into a fielder's choice.
C.J. Willis (Quinnipiac) followed the fielder's choice with a lengthy plate appearance that resulted in his second walk of the day. The Mainers' designated hitter joined Shpur and Tucker t to load the bases for the second time in the contest.
With the bases loaded, Barczi took the first pitch he saw, a fastball from Sean Finn (UConn), over the center-field fence. Barczi's fourth home run of the summer left the ballpark without a doubt as it traveled 386 feet off after leaving that bat at 97 miles per hour.
"C.J. had a tremendous plate appearance right before that to walk the bases, [Jared Davis] started that inning with a backside double, all that stuff played in, those at-bats were incredibly important," Lops said of Sanford's fifth inning. "[Barczi] was looking to ambush the first fastball he saw over the plate, and he certainly did that."
That six-run lead dwindled a half-inning later as Ellisen ran into trouble with his command. Sanford's right-handed pitcher allowed Bryce Molinaro (Penn State), Ripken Reese (Kent State) and T.J. Schuyler (Indiana) to reach on walks.
Andrew Wiggins (Indiana) grounded a ball to Mateo Hernandez (Austin Peay) at shortstop, but it was bobbled allowing Molinaro to score and the bases to remain loaded. Following Ellisen's sixth strikeout of the game, Jake Koonin (Princeton) was hit by a pitch to drive across Reese.
"It was gutsy of him, '' Lops said of Ellisen's outing, which lasted 5.2 innings of three-run, 10-strikeout baseball. "He came up telling me how tired he was, and I could see it. His command wasn't there, the sharpness too, but the competent level didn't die."
Ellisen got out of the fifth inning with two strikeouts before allowing a two-out home run to Reese in the following inning as the SwampBats cut Sanford's advantage to just three runs. Schuyler followed Reese with a single to right field that ended Sanford's starter's night as Kai Leckszas (Georgetown) took over.
Leckszas struck out Wiggins to end the sixth inning before pitching a scoreless seventh and combining with Beau Brailey (Alabama) for a scoreless eighth. Brailey, who relieved Lackszas with two runners on base, pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning to secure the win for Sanford.
"I thought they were able to make pitches when they were down in counts," Lops said of his two relief arms that combined for 3.1 innings of scoreless baseball. "There wasn't a lot of pitching ahead tonight, we pitched from behind a lot...For them to not get discouraged and battle back when those counts weren't in their favor was huge."
Sanford faces the Vermont Mountaineers in a best-of-three series in the 2024 NECBL Postseason beginning on Sunday evening. First pitch is scheduled at 6:30 p.m. from Montpelier Recreation Field.
Images from this story
 Sanford Mainers celebrate win |
• Discuss this story on the New England Collegiate Baseball League message board...
New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from August 3, 2024
- Sanford Sweeps SwampBats, Advances to Semifinals - Sanford Mainers
- Vermont Will Host Sanford in the NECBL Semifinals on Sunday, August 4 in Game One - Vermont Mountaineers
- Vermont Advances to NECBL Semifinals with Series Sweep of Sharks - Vermont Mountaineers
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.
