Streak hits six as Waves defeat Sanford, 3-2
July 5, 2013 - New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL)
Ocean State Waves News Release
WAKEFIELD, R.I. - Ocean State used a three-run third inning and shutdown relief from Connor Kelly to earn its sixth-straight win, 3-2, over Sanford on Friday night at Old Mountain Field.
The Waves (14-8), who are exactly half way through their 44-game regular season, have now won 11 of their last 13 games and are 2-0 on the year against the Mainers (8-10).
It was Sanford that struck first on Friday though, plating a run in the top of the third inning. Robert Wayman drew a one-out walk, stole second and advanced to third on a ground ball back to the mound. Troy Black then came through with a two-out single through the right side to give the Mainers a 1-0 lead.
As the Waves have done so often over the last two weeks, they responded immediately in the bottom of the inning. Reed Gamache drew a one-out walk and Cade Bailey followed with a ground ball to short that appeared like it could be an inning-ending double play but the flip to second was wild, allowing Gamache to advance all the way to third. Christian Muscarello was then walked to load the bases and Sanford starter EJ Ashworth uncorked a wild pitch to score Gamache from third with the tying run. Mike Gerber followed with an RBI single to right and Chris King tacked on an RBI ground out to give the Waves a 3-1 lead after three.
Pitching was the story the rest of the way as Ashworth settled to throw three more scoreless innings before handing the ball off to Michael Gomez for the final two innings. For the Waves, Tyler Bowditch rebounded with a 1-2-3 fourth and a scoreless fifth before hitting trouble in the sixth. A walk and an infield error put runners on the corners with no outs before Jake Thomas beat out an infield single to score a run and make it a 3-2 game. A sac bunt moved both runners into scoring position but Bowditch struck out the next batter for the second out before plunking Will Cooper to load the bases. Ocean State called on Connor Kelly and the hard-throwing right-hander needed just one pitch to escape the jam as Wayman popped up a bunt attempt for the final out.
From there, Kelly and closer Oliver Powers did the rest. Kelly came back out to throw a 1-2-3 seventh and then struck out the side in the eighth before handing the ball to Powers for the ninth. Powers then picked up his second save of the season with a perfect ninth, preserving the 3-2 victory.
With his line drive single in the fifth, Muscarello extended his league-leading hitting streak to 15 games. Muscarello, Gerber and King all had two knocks on the night, while Bailey scored his league-leading 21st run of the season.
The Waves are back at Old Mountain Field on Saturday when they host Saratoga in a doubleheader beginning at 3:30 p.m. The doubleheader will feature a pair of seven-inning games.
New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from July 5, 2013
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