GRANTHAM’S FIVE RBIS LEAD MAINERS TO SEASON SWEEP OF TWISTERS; SANFORD DEFEATS TORRINGTON, 9-4

SANFORD – Jeff Grantham went 4-for-5 with two triples and five runs batted in to lead the Sanford Mainers to a 9-4 victory over the Torrington Twisters in NECBL action at Goodall Park on Friday night. Tyler Stovall also went 3-for-4 with two runs driven in and three runs scored to help key the Sanford (12-17) offense and lead the Mainers to the two-game season-series sweep of Torrington (15-9). Will Cherry went 1-for-3 and drove in three runs for the Twisters in the defeat.

The Mainers opened the scoring with three runs in the bottom of the first inning. Noah Lankford (Central Michigan/Cincinnati, Ohio) started things with a one-out through right side and then moved to second when Max Most (Marist/Port Washington, N.Y.) drew a walk. Lankford tagged up and moved to third base on a fly ball to right field by Bubba Ruddy (Cypress CC/Orange, Calif.). After Most stole second base, both runners would come in to give Sanford a 2-0 lead on an infield single to Torrington shortstop Chris Klepps deep behind the bag at second. Jeff Grantham (St. John’s/Randolph, N.J.) followed with a triple just beyond the reach of Aaron Newman in center field to score Stovall from first and extend the lead to 3-0.

The Twisters answered with two runs in the top of the second inning. Joe Van Meter led off with a walk and moved to third base when Klepps hit a double just inside third base and down the left-field line. Both runners scored three batters later when Will Cherry lined a single through the right side of the infield on one hop to cut the Sanford lead to 3-2.

The Mainers would tack on a run in the bottom of the third inning. With one out, Ruddy turned on a pitch and hit a double down the left-field line. He scored to make it 4-2 two batters later when Grantham singled to center.

Sanford would strike again for another run to make it 5-2 in the bottom of the fourth inning. Jeff Helps (Central Michigan/Wyoming, Ontario) led off with a single to center field and then stole second base. He came in to score when Lankford reached second base on a fielding error by Greg Miller at first base.

The Twisters would inch closer with a run in the top of the fifth inning. Ryan Cisterna led off with a single into left-center field. Mike Fabiaschi followed with a double to put runners at second and third with nobody out. Cherry hit a ground ball to shortstop to pick up his third RBI of the game, plate Cisterna, and cut the Mainers lead to 5-3.

Sanford would re-extend the lead to three runs with an unearned run in the bottom of the fifth inning. Scott Guillerault (Wheaton/South Portland, Maine) led off with a single to right-center field and moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Tim Kalczynski (Michigan/Farmington Hills, Mich.). Guillerault moved to third on a ground ball to first base by Helps and then scored when Miller tossed the ball over the head of the relief pitcher covering first, Eric Thompson.

The Mainers tacked on another run to extend the lead to 7-3 in the bottom of the sixth inning. Stovall started things with a two out infield single to the second baseman Fabiaschi behind second base. Stovall then scored from first base on Grantham’s second triple of the evening, this one to the gap in left-center field.

Torrington got one run back in the top of the eighth inning. Garrett Green led off with a walk and Miller followed with a double down the left-field line to put runners at second and third with nobody out. After a walk to Van Meter loaded the bases, Green scored on a wild pitch by Mainers reliever Nick Carlucci (Southern Connecticut State/Franklin, Mass.) to make cut the lead to 7-4. However, Carlucci would strike out Klepps and Cisterna, and then get Fabiaschi to ground out to shortstop to end the inning without any further damage.

Sanford would plate two more runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to create the 9-4 final score. Most led off with an infield single to Klepps behind second base. Two batters later, Stovall hit a double into right-center field to put runners at second and third with one out. Grantham followed with his fourth hit as well as his fourth and fifth runs batted in on the night with a two-run single back up the middle.

Eric Katzman (Michigan/Harrington Park, N.J.) started on the mound and earned the victory (1-1) for the Mainers. In six innings of work, he gave up three runs on six hits, walked three and struck out three.

Craig Chaput started and took the loss (0-1) on the hill for Torrington. Over 3.2 innings, he gave up five runs on eight hits, walked two and struck out five.

The Mainers return to action on Sunday, July 15 when they visit the Newport Gulls. First pitch is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. at Cardines Field in Newport, R.I. and is the continuation of a game suspended in the middle of the fifth inning with the Gulls leading 8-1 at Goodall Park on June 27. The evening’s regularly scheduled contest between the two clubs will follow at 6:35 p.m. 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.