Mainers Hold On at Holyoke 6-5
Face Southern Division foe Pittsfield Friday night

Holyoke, MA – The Sanford Mainers used some clutch hitting behind a strong start by Kyle Davis and escaped to defeat the Holyoke Blue Sox 6-5 Thursday night at MacKenzie Stadium. Sanford took a four-run lead into the ninth inning but saw that diminish to one. With the bases loaded and one away and Tony Chisman on the mound, Craig Turner hit a right side foul pop caught by first baseman Kyle Groth. Allen Bolden tried to tag from third base and score the tying run but Groth fired home and catcher Will Greenberg applied the tag to preserve a one-run win.

With the game still scoreless in the second, the Mainers would get some timely hitting to get on the board. Kyle Groth fisted a single to center and was erased on a fielder’s choice by Steve Brooks. After a strikeout and a Brian Harris walk, Will Greenberg ripped a double over the head of Alex Hilliard in center to score both Brooks and Harris and give the Mainers a 2-0 lead. Sanford would get a third run on a Kevin Reimer sacrifice fly in the top of the third.

The Blue Sox would creep closer with solo tallies in each of the fourth and sixth innings. Jonathan Ross was hit by a Kyle Davis pitch with the bases loaded to plate Allen Bolden. Holyoke would get their sixth inning score on a Sean Killeen two-out, RBI single. Sanford would open their lead back up to three in their half of the seventh. Devin Harris was called on to pinch-hit for Kevin Reimer with the bases loaded. With reliever Ryan Kiel now pitching for Holyoke, Harris cranked a two-run single to left to score both Greg Hopkins and Mark Micowski to give the Mainers a 5-2 advantage. The Mainers would add more when Greenberg scored on a throwing error on a groundball off the bat of Hopkins.

Davis lasted five and two-thirds innings in a winning effort. The right-hander gave up two runs on six hits, while walking three and striking out five. Mike Wilson made his first Mainers’ appearance. The southpaw fired two and a third innings of one-run baseball, striking out four hitters. Ryan Lapointe pitched one-third of an inning and allowed two runs. Chisman earned his first save of the season. Rob Gariano picked up his second loss for the Blue Sox.

***Box scores available at necbl.com

Notes… Mainers improved to 2-4 on the road… …The Mainers visit their second Southern Division Opponent Friday night at Pittsfield. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00. Audio and video streaming are both available at sanfordmainers.com