Brooks’ Late Homer Leads Mainers to Fifth Straight
Sanford edges Manchester 4-3 on road

Manchester, CT – The Sanford Mainers rallied from a three-run deficit, capped by a Steve Brooks, ninth inning solo homer as they edged the Manchester Silkworms 4-3 Tuesday night at Goodall Park. The win is the fifth consecutive for Sanford, who now is a season best three games over .500 at 8-5.

With the score tied 3-3 into the ninth, Brooks stepped to the plate against Manchester closer Brandon Otto. The Mainers’ centerfielder pummeled an Otto fastball into left field, just clearing the wall and giving Sanford a 4-3 lead, their first lead of the night.

The Silkworms got all of their offense in the fourth and fifth innings. With the game scoreless in the fourth, a struggling Manchester offense used a double steal with runners at the corners to score the game’s first run. They would add two more on a Chris Affinito groundball to short where Corey Hunt’s throw pulled Kyle Groth off the bag plating two more.

Sanford would chip away with solo tallies in each of the six, seventh and eighth innings. The Mainers would get their first run on a Jordan Wolfe bases-loaded balk that plated Klint Reed. In the seventh, Kevin Reimer came in to pinch-hit for Reed and delivered a sacrifive fly to left that scored Will Greenberg, who reached on a bunt single to lead off the inning. Sanford would come all the way back to tie it in the eighth. Devin Harris walked and moved to second on Brian Harris’ infield single. Matt Nandin walked and Greenberg lined out to third. With the bases loaded and one away, Greg Hopkins hit a sharp grounder to short which seemed to be a routine double play ball. A.J. Rusbarsky had it hit off the heel of his glove, allowing Devin Harris to score to tie the game. Brian Harris would also try to score on the play, but was thrown out at the plate.

Mike Wilson started for the Mainers. The southpaw went four and two-thirds innings and allowed three runs on five hits. Kyle Davis was stellar in relief. He worked two and a third innings of scoreless baseball. Tony Chisman fired the final inning and two-thirds and picked up his third win of the season. Tyler Hyde got a no-decision for the Silkworms. He allowed one unearned run in five and two-thirds frames. Otto got the losing decision for Manchester.

***Box scores available at necbl.com

Notes… The win was the Mainers’ second in its final at-bat…Chisman has already recorded three wins in just six appearances…Sanford is a perfect 4-0 against Southern Division opponents so far this year…The Mainers return home Wednesday night to host the Danbury Westerners. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30. Audio and video streaming are both available at sanfordmainers.com