FIVE-RUN THIRD INNING SINKS MAINERS; PITTSFIELD DEFEATS SANFORD, 11-3

PITTSFIELD, Mass. – Tony DiCesare, Tyler Stampone, Scott Savastano and Jeff Lienick all drove in runs in the bottom of the fifth inning as the Pittsfield Dukes picked up five runs on five hits and two errors in the frame and went on to defeat the Sanford Mainers 8-3 in NECBL action at Wahconah Park on Thursday night. DiCesare finished 2-for-4 with four runs batted in and two runs scored and Savastano drove in two runs for Pittsfield (8-17) in the victory. Tyler Stovall tripled and scored a run in the defeat for Sanford (11-17).

The Dukes opened the scoring with a run in the bottom of the first inning. Tony DiCesare reached first base on a one-out walk. Tyler Stampone followed with a single through the right side to move DiCesare to third base. With Scott Savastano at the plate with an 0-1 count, the sun setting behind center field blinded the batter and prompted a 39-minute sun delay (Wahconah Park was built in 1892 before evening games were even imagined). After the delay, Savastano hit a ground ball to second base and reached on an RBI fielder’s choice as DiCesare scored the first run of the game and Stampone was forced out at second.

The Mainers took the lead with two unearned runs in the top of the third inning. Tim Kalczynski (Michigan/Farmington Hills, Mich.) reached first base with a one-out bunt single on the third-base side and then moved to second base on a passed ball charged to Pittsfield catcher Jeff Lienick. After a walk to Kyle Meyer (Marist/Renssalaer, N.Y.), Brian Kemp (St. John’s/East Rockaway, N.Y.) laid down a sacrifice bunt but ended up at second base as Dukes starting pitcher Chris Powl threw the ball over the head of first baseman Chester Wilson. Meyer moved to third base on the play and Kalczynski came in to score and tie the game 1-1. Cody Allen (Central Michigan/Coleman, Mich.) followed with a sacrifice to center field to drive in Meyer and give Sanford a 2-1 lead.

The lead would be short-lived, as the Dukes answered with five runs in the bottom half of the third innings. Alex Hassan led off the inning with a single up the middle. He immediately scored on a triple to right field by DiCesare to tie the game 2-2. Stampone followed with a double to center field to drive in DiCesare. Savastano then hit a sacrifice fly to left field to pick up his second RBI of the game, driving in Stampone to give the Dukes a 4-2 lead. Two batters later, Wilson hit a two-out double to the gap in left-center field. Wilson came in to score when Sam Shaughnessy reached on a fly ball which was dropped by Allen in left field. Shuaghnessy scored all the way from first base on a double by Lienick to left field over Allen’s head.

Sanford inched closer with a run in the top of the fourth inning. Tyler Stovall (Central Michigan/Cincinnati, Ohio) hit a one-out triple deep into the gap in right-center field. He scored to cut the Pittsfield lead to 6-3 on a groundout to second base by Noah Lankford (Central Michigan/Cincinnati, Ohio).

Once again the Dukes would answer in the home half of the inning, this time picking up a run in the bottom of the fourth. Hassan once again led off, this time with a walk. After advancing to second on a balk by Sanford reliever Kurt Heaton (Suffolk County CC/Selden, N.Y.) and stealing third base, Hassan was driven in to give Pittsfield a 7-3 lead on a single through the right side by DiCesare. Savastano would be ejected at the end of the inning for arguing with base umpire Charles Curcio after he was called out on a close play at first base after hitting a ground ball to second base.

The Dukes tacked on another run in the bottom of the sixth inning to extend the lead to 8-3. Lienick led off with a double to left-center field. After moving to third base on a single to right field by Keli’i Zablan, Lienick scored on a sacrifice fly to right field by Hassan.

Pittsfield opened up the game further with three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. With one out, Lienick singled down the left-field line and moved to second on a walk to Zablan. After a wild pitch by Brett Carnline (Wharton County JC/Conroe, Texas) moved the runners to second and third, Hassan worked a walk to load the bases. DiCesare grounded into a fielder’s choice and ended up on second base on an error by shortstop Jeff Helps (Central Michigan/Wyoming, Ontario). Lienick and Zablan both scored on the play to extend the lead to 10-3. Stampone followed with a double to left-center field to drive in DiCesare and create the final 11-3 score.

Taylor Cragin (Texas Christian/Friendswood, Texas) started on the mound ad took the loss (2-2) for Sanford. In three innings of work, he gave up six runs (four earned) on seven hits, walked one and struck out three.

Powl started on the mound and pitched the complete game to earn the victory (3-1) for Pittsfield. He gave up three runs (one earned) on six hits, walked two and struck out two.

The Mainers return to action on Friday, July 13 when they host the Torrington Twisters. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Goodall Park in Sanford. Matt Janik and Luke Hutchinson 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.