WALK-OFF WILD PITCH DOWNS MAINERS IN CONCORD

CONCORD, N.H. – Andy Meyers came in to score the winning run on a wild pitch on what was to be intentional ball four to Brad Agustin in the bottom of the ninth inning. The wild pitch gave the Concord Quarry Dogs (6-7) a 7-6 victory over the Sanford Mainers (6-10) in NECBL play at Doane Diamond on Tuesday night.

The Mainers wasted no time getting on the board with four runs in the top of the first inning. Brian Kemp (St. John’s/East Rockaway, N.Y.) led off with a single up the middle to extend his hitting streak to 10 games and then moved to second by stealing his team-leading eighth base of the season. Cody Allen (Central Michigan/Coleman, Mich.) followed with a sharp single to centerfield to put runners at first and third with nobody out. After back-to-back wild pitches scored Kemp for the first run of the game and moved Allen to third, Jeff Grantham (St. John’s/Randolph, N.J.) worked a walk and Tyler Stovall (Central Michigan/Cincinnati, Ohio) followed with an RBI double to the base of the fence in straight-away center field to score Allen and move Grantham to third. Max Most (Marist/Port Washington, N.Y.) then legged out an infield single to shortstop which brought Grantham in to score and moved Stovall to third. Stovall would come to plate to score on an RBI groundout to first base by Scott Guillerault (Wheaton/South Portland, Maine) to make it a 4-0 Sanford lead.

The Quarry Dogs answered right back with five runs of their own in the bottom half of the first inning. Simi Reynolds reached on a one-out single off the glove of Guillerault at third base and would move to third on a single to right field by Andy Meyers. After a walk to Jake Smith loaded the bases, William Long cut the Mainer lead in half with a two-run single to left field which scored both Reynolds and Meyers. Smith moved to third on the play and came into score when Long was forced out at second base as Brad Agustin reached on an RBI fielder’s choice. Agustin moved to second on a single to right-center field by Phil St. Amant and then came to the plate and scored on an RBI single to center field by Dan Lopez that tied the game 4-4. St. Amant would score to give Concord the lead when Dan Lopez stole second base and Jeff Helps (Central Michigan/Wyoming, Ontario) mishandled the throw down to second base.

Sanford tied the game by manufacturing a run with two outs in the top of the fourth inning. Helps reached with two outs on a drag bunt down the first base line and then stole his third base of the year to put himself in scoring position. Kemp followed with a single to right field which scored Helps from second to knot the game at 5-5.

The Mainers would regain the lead with another run in the top of the fifth inning. With one out, Stovall worked a walk and then stole second base, his fourth steal of the season. He moved to third on a groundout to first base by Most and came home on a wild pitch to give Sanford a 6-5 lead.

Grantham picked up a single in the top of the seventh inning to extend his hit streak to 15 games.

Concord would scrape together a run to tie the game in the bottom of the eighth inning. Brad Agustin led off the inning with a walk that drove reliever Eric Katzman (Michigan/Harrington Park, N.J.) from the game. Luke Demko (Rhode Island/Gilford, N.H.) took over on the hill and retired Justin Echevarria on a sacrifice bunt before Lopez singled through the right side to put runners at first and third with one out. Josh Logan followed with an RBI, infield single deep in the hole at shortstop which scored Agustin and tied the game 6-6.

The Quarry Dogs would win the game with a run in the home half of the ninth inning. Meyers led off with a single to left-center field and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Smith. After an intentional walk to Long and a wild pitch put runners at second and third, the Mainers attempted to intentionally walk Agustin. However, the second pitch from Richie Armento (St. John’s/Bayside, N.Y.) sailed to the backstop and allowed Meyers to score with the winning run.

Kevin Landry (William & Mary/Vienna, Va.) started and did not factor in the decision on the hill for the Mainers. Over 5.2 innings, he gave up five runs on eight hits, walked two and struck out four. Armento took the loss (0-2) out of the bullpen for Sanford. In 0.1 innings of work, Armento gave up one run on one hit, intentionally walked one and threw two wild pitches.

Steven Whalen started on the mound and received no decision for Concord. In six innings of work, he gave up six runs on eight hits, walked two, threw three wild pitches and struck out five. Steve Geltz got the win (0-1) out of the bullpen for the Quarry Dogs. Geltz retired both batters he faced to strand two in the top of the ninth inning.

The Mainers return to action on Wednesday, June 27 when they return home to host the Newport Gulls. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Goodall Park in Sanford. Matt Janik and Nick Lima will have all the action at http://www.sanfordmainers.com.

A complete box score of tonight’s game will be available via http://www.necbl.com.

Founded in 2002, the Sanford Mainers are a non-profit organization and the premier collegiate baseball team in the state of Maine, playing their home games at historic Goodall Park. A proud member of the NECBL, the Mainers annually aid in progressing the careers of the future stars of professional baseball, in addition to bringing top-notch collegiate baseball to the Sanford area. For more information visit http://www.sanfordmainers.com or call the Mainers front office at (207) 324-0010.