LAPOINTE ON POINT AS MAINERS DOWN TWISTERS 9-1

TORRINGTON, Conn. – Ryan Lapointe was stellar on the mound, pitching 6.2 shutout innings to lead the Sanford Mainers to a 9-1 road victory over the Torrington Twisters in NECBL play at Fuessenich Park on Sunday evening. Max Most and Bubba Ruddy each drove in two runs to lead the Mainers (9-16) offense on the evening. Will Cherry hit a solo home run in the defeat for the Twisters (14-7).

The Mainers got on the board early with a run in the top of the first inning. Cody Allen (Central Michigan/Coleman, Mich.) reached first base with a one-out walk and advanced to second base on a balk by Twisters starter Kurt Houck. Allen came in to score the game’s first run on a single up the middle by Max Most (Marist/Port Washington, N.Y.), who picked up his 10th run batted in of the season.

Sanford struck for another run in the top of the third inning. Jeff Helps (Central Michigan/Wyoming, Ontario) led off the inning with a single down the left field line. Brian Kemp (St. John’s/East Rockaway, N.Y.) followed and reached third base on a throwing error by Torrington third baseman Sean Parker. However, Helps was thrown out trying to score on the play. Kemp would score an unearned run on Allen’s RBI double to left-center field. After Allen walked, Most worked a walk to put runners at first and third base. Bubba Ruddy (Cypress CC/Orange, Calif.) followed with an infield single to shortstop to drive in Allen to extend the Mainers lead to 3-0. After another infield single by Jeff Grantham (St. John’s/Randolph, N.J.) loaded the bases and Noah Lankford (Central Michigan/Cincinnati, Ohio) then drove in Sanford’s fourth run of the game with a ground ball to second base that scored Most.

Sanford extended the lead to 6-0 with two unearned runs in the top of the fourth inning. Kyle Meyer (Marist/Renssalaer, N.Y.) led off the inning with an infield single to third base. After moving to second on a wild pitch, Meyer moved to third on a single to the shortstop by Kemp. After Kemp stole second base for his league-leading 16th steal of the season, Meyer came in to score and make the lead 5-0 when Allen reached on a fielding error by first baseman Lee Bujakowksi. Kemp would then score the second run of the inning when Most bounced into a fielder’s choice which saw Allen erased at second base.

The Mainers added three more runs in the top of the ninth inning. With one out, Kemp and Allen were both hit by pitches and then executed a double steal to put
runners at second and third bases. Kemp scored on a wild pitch, and then Allen scored on an RBI single to right field by Ruddy. Ruddy would come all the way around to score on a double to the right-center field gap by Grantham to extend the lead to 9-0 for the Mainers.

With one out in the bottom of the ninth inning, Will Cherry cranked a solo home run to left-center field to break up the Sanford shutout bid and cut the final deficit to 9-1.

Ryan Lapointe (George Washington/Somersworth, N.H.) pitched 6.2 shutout innings to earn the victory (2-1) on the mound for Sanford. He gave up eight hits, issued no walks, hit two batters and struck out seven.

Kurt Houck started and took the loss (3-1) on the hill for the Twisters. In five innings of work, he gave up six runs (two earned) on seven hits, walked three and struck out two.

The Mainers return to action on Tuesday, July 10 when they visit the Keene Swamp Bats. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at Alumni Field in Keene, N.H. Matt Janik and Bob Lund 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.