Strong Mainers 'Pen Makes It Ten Straight
July 28, 2024 - New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL)
Sanford Mainers News Release
SANFORD, Maine - In a battle for second place in the North Division and the fourth seed in the NECBL Postseason Picture, the Sanford Mainers came out victorious against the Keene SwampBats for the seventh time this season in 7-4 fashion at Goodall Park on Sunday evening.
For the 24th time this season, Sanford scored first with a pair of runs coming across in the bottom of the second after Clay Robbins (Southern Maine) worked set down the first six SwampBats he saw on the mound.
Devan Bade (Binghamton) singled to open the home portion of the second inning before Ray Velazquez (Vanderbilt) walked two plate appearances later. After a popout gave Jared Lessman (Louisville) the second out of the inning, Jared Davis (Virginia Tech) flew a triple into the right-center field gap.
Davis' first triple of the season drove home both Bade and Velazquez as the Mainers offense, which came into the day hitting .322 with a .417 on-base percentage over its previous nine games, stayed humming.
"I think he's taken a little bit of pressure off himself not having to be that sparkplug at the very top of our lineup," manager Nic Lops said of Davis, who has started the last 15 games in the nine-hole spot of Sanford's lineup. "He's been more selective with getting on his pitch, not missing his pitch and doing damage before he gets to two strikes."
Davis' triple stood as the only run of the ballgame through the third inning before Keene took the lead in the fourth inning after being no-hit through the first three.
Nick Romano (Florida Atlantic) opened the middle third of the game with a single before Robbins bounced back to get the first two outs of the inning. With two outs, Bryce Molinaro (Penn State), David Mendez (Vanderbilt), Andrew Wiggins (Indiana) and J.D. Jones (Rutgers) all recorded singles.
Each of those four singles drove in runs for the SwampBats as the visitors took the 4-2 lead.
"It has happened his last couple outings where he's been really good to start, and then just kind of runs into a wall where he just starts losing sharpness and location," Lops said of his Robbins, who was making his first appearance in 18 days. "I think that was part of it, but I certainly don't want to undermine what Keene was able to do. They put up four runs to take a two-run lead."
That two-run lead did not last for long as the Mainers put a three-spot up in the bottom of the fourth inning behind a leadoff double from Davis. With Davis leading off second, Caleb Shpur (UConn) extended his hit streak to 11 games and put runners on the corners.
Shpur, who already had two stolen bases on the day, took off for second base, and as Jones threw down to second base, Davis bolted home. The double steal, which featured Sanford's two stolen bases leaders this season, proved successful as Davis scored to cut the deficit to one run.
That double steal came during Jackson Tucker (St. John's) at-bat. Tucker finished the at-bat with the Mainers' second triple of the game, which drove home Shpur to tie that game at four apiece. One batter, C.J. Willis (Quinnipiac) flew a ball in the same direction as Tucker's triple to score Tucker and give Sanford a one-run advantage.
The 5-4 score stood into the seventh inning as Ryan Douglas (Stonehill) and Connor Toriello (Salve Regina) kept the SwampBats to just one hit over the fifth, sixth and seventh innings.
"We talked a lot in our pregame powwow about the fact that we've already blown two six-run leads this week," Lops said. "That just comes down to lack of focus and lack of execution with pitches. For those guys to take that to heart and go out there to throw up a bunch of zeroes was massive."
Toriello, who pitched the scoreless seventh, was given some insurance in the bottom of the inning as two collegiate teammates in Bade and Evin Sullivan (Binghamton) hit back-to-back doubles to bring across Sanford's sixth tally.
"He's certainly been a great addition late in the season," Lops said of Sullivan, who has 10 RBI in 10 games played. "Sometimes late-season additions don't always come in as sharp as he has been for us. He's made us a better team plain and simple."
Toriello pitched another scoreless frame in the eighth inning before Shpur manufactured a run by himself in the bottom of the eighth. The Connecticut native reached on an infield single before stealing two bases and advancing home on a wild pitch to make it 7-4.
Beau Brailey (Alabama) relieved Toriello for the ninth and set down Keene in 1-2-3 fashion to secure Sanford's 10th consecutive victory, which is the longest winning streak in organization history.
"I need these guys to live in the moment," Lops said of his team's mindset at this point of the season. "It's been a heck of a run these last 10 games that can't be written up much better. We've broken the stolen base record, the Mainers' single-season walk record, it's all great stuff. Don't get me wrong, but nothing significant has been accomplished yet in my mind."
Sanford looks to make it 11 games in a row and clinch the fourth seed in the playoff when they host the Vermont Mountaineers on Monday. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
• Discuss this story on the New England Collegiate Baseball League message board...
New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from July 28, 2024
- Strong Mainers 'Pen Makes It Ten Straight - Sanford Mainers
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.
