The NECBL Daily Rundown - 7/2/22- Walkoffs for Winnipesaukee and Bristol

July 3, 2022 - New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) News Release

Robbie Mills Sports Complex in Laconia, NH - The Winnipesaukee Muskrats (10-10) walked it off on the Upper Valley Nighthawks (11-10) through a solo home run.

In the bottom of the ninth, Winnipesaukee's Cristian Mercedes (Southern New Hampshire) worked the count to two balls and two strikes before smacking a walk-off solo homer over the fence. Mercedes was the first batter of the inning. He ended the night with two RBIs, which led the Muskrats.

Winnipesaukee scored quickly in the bottom of the first but found itself down after the top of the third. Upper Valley's Max Grant (Canisius) hit a three-run bomb in the third to give the Nighthawks a 3-1 lead. The Muskrats hit back in the bottom of the inning thanks to a Michael Borrelli (St Anselm) RBI single. But, Upper Valley restored its lead back to two in the top of the fourth via a Jonathan Hogart (Louisiana Tech) home run.

The Muskrats scored in back to back innings to knot the game at four. A Zach DeMattio (Wheaton) single in the fifth and an error in the sixth brought Winnipesaukee level. DeMattio joined Cristian Mercedes and Matthew Alifano (Adelphi) as the three Muskrats with multi-hit efforts.

Both teams traded runs in the eighth and headed into the ninth tied at five. The Nighthawks went down in order in the top of the inning before Cristian Mercedes led off the bottom of the ninth with a walk-off bomb.

The Muskrats look to get over .500 when they host the Bristol Blues (15-6) this afternoon at 2:30. The Nighthawks host the red-hot Vermont Mountaineers (21-2) at 5:00.

Sanford Mainers 10 - Ocean State Waves 0

W - Bryce Afthim 2-1 (Southern Maine): 6.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K

L - Joseph Sheets 2-2 (Columbia): 4.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K

S - Brady Afthim 2 (Connecticut): 3.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K

Goodall Park in Sanford, ME - The Sanford Mainers (10-12) cruised to a 10-0 victory over the Ocean State Waves (9-14).

No matter the state of the game, the Afthim brothers had the Mainers taken care of. The Waves did not have two batters reach base until the seventh inning, and the Afthim's only walked one batter while striking out 10.

The Mainers scored in the first inning on a passed ball, then scored in the fifth inning on another passed ball. Their biggest inning came in the sixth inning. Quinn McDaniel (Maine Orono) started the scoring with an RBI single. Later in the inning with the bases loaded, Aidan Kane ( hit a 2-run double to make it 5-0. The next batter, Jake Rainess, hit an RBI single.

Sanford continued to extend its lead with two runs in both the seventh and eighth inning. Quinn McDaniel hit an RBI triple, which was followed by a Matthew Polk RBI double to make it 8-0. In the eighth inning, a pair of hit-by-pitches with the bases loaded extended the Mainers' lead to 10.

The Mainers will have a divisional matchup on the road against the Keene Swamp Bats at 6:30 p.m. today. The Waves will be on the road again today for a 7:05 p.m. game against the Martha's Vineyard Sharks.

Vermont Mountaineers 15 - Valley Blue Sox 10

W - Mitch Pascarella 2-0 (Connecticut): 2.2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K

L - Connor Bailey 2-2 (Xavier): 1.2 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K

Montpelier Recreation Field in Montpelier, VT - The Vermont Mountaineers (21-2) defeated the Valley Blue Sox (11-11) in a barnburner of a game.

The Blue Sox did their best to stay toe-to-toe with the Mountaneers, but Vermont consistently responded to Valley's rallies with a bigger rally. In the top of the second inning, Valley's Michael Casaleggio ( hit a 2-run double to give the Blue Sox a 2-1 lead. In the bottom of the inning, Evan Fox (Stony Brook) hit a 2-run double of his own to give Vermont the lead back. Gerry Siracusa (UMass Lowell) followed that up with an RBI double, then was driven in on a Tyler Cox (Dartmouth) single to make it 5-2.

Valley's Anthony Sherwin (Bucknell) and Blaze Fadio (Lafayette) each hit solo home runs in the top of the fourth to make it a one-run game. The Mountaineers responded in the bottom of the inning with a sacrifice fly. However, in the top of the fifth inning, Christian Fagnant (Amherst) hit a 2-run single to tie the game at 6.

In the bottom of the fifth, Vermont mounted another rally. Stephen DiTomaso (George Washington) scored on a passed ball to regain the lead. Then, with the bases loaded, Gerry Siracusa hammered a ball into left field that was fumbled in the outfield, and three runs scored to make it 10-6.

After a 4-run inning from Vermont, the Blue Sox continued to show their resilience. Jack Krause (Bowling Green State), Michael Casaleggio, and Blaze Fadio each hit an RBI single to bring the deficit within one. For a brief period, the offense went quiet. Vermont's Mitchell Pascarella and Valley's Jacob Terwiliger (Bucknell) tossed a couple scoreless frames. Then, in the bottom of the eighth, the Mountaineers struck again. Tyler Cox hit an RBI single and Stephen DiTomaso hit a sacrifice fly to make it 12-9. Next, with two men on, Tom Ruscitti (Fairleigh Dickinson) hit a 3-run home run over the right field wall to make it a six-run game.

The Blue Sox scored a run in the top of the ninth, but Vermont closed out a 15-10 victory.

The Mountaineers will have a divisional matchup on the road against the Upper Valley Nighthawks today at 5 p.m. The Blue Sox will have a home divisional matchup against the Danbury Westerners at 5:05 p.m. today.

Mystic Schooners 10 - North Adams SteepleCats 7

W - Jonathan Velazquez 1-1 (Stetson): 1.1 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

L - Kaleb Sophy 0-4 (Shippensburg): 3.0 IP, 9 H, 4 ER (5 R), 1 BB, 5 K

Joe Wolfe Field in North Adams, Mass. - The Mystic Schooners (10-9) downed the North Adams SteepleCats (5-17) thanks to a fast start.

The Schooners scored two in the first, two in the second and another run in the third to jump out to a 5-2 lead. A single by Charlie Pagliarini (Fairfield) and a double from Eddie Micheletti (George Washington) plated the two runs in the first inning. Two more were added in the second thanks to a two-run homer from Kevin Ferrer (Connecticut). Ferrer had three hits and two RBIs on the night. Stanton Leuthner (Stony Brook) was the only other Schooners with three hits. A fifth run for Mystic came in the third inning via a Stanton Leuthner single.

North Adams scored their first runs in the bottom of the first a Brady Mutz (Monmouth) RBI and a Scott Jones (Butler) double. Jones led the SteepleCats with three hits. The home team added two more in the fifth through a Brady Mutz double and a Joaquin Monque (South Florida) single, making it a 5-4 game.

Mystic extended its lead to 6-4 in the eighth thanks to a Charlie Pagliarini RBI. The Schooners tacked on four more runs in the top of the ninth to take a six run lead before the SteepleCats scored two consolation runs in the bottom of the inning.

Mystic hosts the Navigators (5-16) today at 4:00. North Adams has an off day today before hosting the Blue Sox (11-11)on the 4th of July at 6:00.

Bristol Blues 3 - Keene Swamp Bats 2

W - Matt Smith 1-0 (Southern Connecticut): 1.0 IP, 1H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

L - Parker Murphy 0-2 (Jacksonville): 0.1 IP, 0 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 1 K

Muzzy Field, Bristol, Conn. - The Bristol Blues (15-6) defeated the Keene Swamp Bats (8-14) in extra innings in a tightly contested game on Saturday night at Muzzy Field.

Trailing 2-1 heading into the bottom of the tenth inning the Blues took advantage of poor pitching by the Swamp Bats as four walks allowed two runs to score in the inning giving Bristol the walkoff win without recording a hit in the inning.

The Blues struck first, scoring in the bottom of the sixth inning when Ryan Wilson (Davidson) reached first on a fielder's choice, scoring AJ Gaich (Yale) who singled earlier in the inning .

The Swamp Bats fought back in the top of the seventh, scoring one run off a sac fly by Tony Santa Maria (Rutgers) which allowed Brandon Anderson (Louisville), who had reached earlier in the inning on a single, to score tying the game up at 1-1.

Both teams return to play on Sunday, July 3rd, with the Blues playing a doubleheader against the Winnipesaukee Muskrats first game starting at 2:30 p.m. while Keene hosts the Sanford Mainers beginning at 6:30 p.m.

Newport Gulls 3 - Danbury Westerners 0

W - Collin Lowe 1-1 (Bryant): 5 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K

L - Braden Quinn 0-2 (UConn): 5 IP, 6 H, 2 ER (3 R), 2 BB, 4 K

Rogers Field in Danbury CT - The Newport Gulls (13-8) defeated the Danbury Westerners (10-12) in a rain-shortened eight inning affair.

The game began as a pitchers duel as Newport's Collin Lowe and Danbury's Braden Quinn held the opposing offenses scoreless through the game's first four innings. In the top of the fifth, Newport was in business with the first two hitters reaching on a single and a walk. With one out in the inning, Alec Makarewics (East Carolina) roped a single down the left field line to bring in two runs. Two batters later, Samuel Kulasingam (United States Air Force) scored Makarewics on a single to left. This made the game 3-0, and it would be the only scoring of the night. From there, Garrett Crowley (Texas Tech) and Chase Renner (Penn State) continued to shut down the Westerners. Newport pitching was remarkable all game with ten strikeouts and zero walks. The top performer on Danbury was Nicholas Romano (Georgia Tech) who went 3-3.

The Gulls will take an off day on Sunday before returning to Cardines field on Monday as they look to extend their winning streak to six games against the North Shore Navigators. The game will begin at 6:35 p.m. The Westerners will head to Holyoke to take on the Valley Blue Sox on Sunday at 5:05 p.m.

New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from July 3, 2022

• Mountaineers Receive Their Third Loss to In-State Rivals - Vermont Mountaineers
• The NECBL Daily Rundown - 7/2/22- Walkoffs for Winnipesaukee and Bristol - NECBL

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