GULLS FINISH OFF MAINERS IN SUSPENDED GAME; NEWPORT DOWNS SANFORD 12-2

NEWPORT, R.I. – Brad French finished the game with a home run and three runs driven in as the Newport Gulls took the field with an 8-1 lead over the Sanford Mainers and finished with a 12-2 victory in the resumption of a game started on June 27 in Sanford. Drew Poulk hit a solo home run and drove in two runs, and Jonathan White hit a two-run triple in the ballgame for Newport (17-10). Brian Kemp hit a run-scoring triple in the defeat for Sanford (12-18).

Newport got things started early back on June 27 with four runs in the top of the first inning. Matt Vance led off with a single to right field, stole second and moved to third on a groundout to first base by Brandon May. Vance came in to score the first run of the game on an RBI groundout to third base by Brad French. The Gulls would do plenty more damage with two outs, as Drew Poulk singled back through the middle, stole second and moved to third on a wild pitch. He came in to score on a double to centerfield by Ryan Wiegand. After a walk to Matt Iannetta, Wiegand scored to make it 3-0 on a double to right field by Gabriel Saade. Iannetta would score an unearned run to extend the lead to 4-0 when Gerry Spessard reached on a fielding error by second baseman Kyle Meyer (Marist/Renssalaer, N.Y.).

The Gulls would tack on another run in the top of the second inning to make it 5-0. With two outs, French was hit by a pitch and then moved all the way to third base on an errant pick-off throw by Sanford starting pitcher Ryan Lapointe (George Washington/Somersworth, N.H.). French would score on an RBI, infield single off of Lapointe’s leg by Poulk.

The Mainers got on the board with a run in the bottom of the second inning. With one out, Scott Guillerault (Wheaton/South Portland, Maine) singled to left field and moved to second on Chris Burleson’s (Southern Maine/Portland, Maine) groundout to shortstop. Bubba Ruddy (Cypress CC/Orange, Calif.) then lined an RBI single to centerfield to score Guillerault and cut the lead to 5-1.

Newport would score three more times in the top of the third inning to extend the lead to 8-1. Iannetta led off the inning with a single to left field and moved to third as Spessard hit a ground ball which first baseman Michael Gedman (Le Moyne/Framingham, Mass.) fielded and then threw into left field trying to force out Iannetta at second. Jonathan White would follow and plate both runners with a two-run triple to the gap in left-center field to make it 7-1. White would come in to score as well on an infield single to shortstop by Vance.

The score remained at 8-1 through the top half of the fifth inning. As the Gulls took the field for the bottom half of the fifth inning, the umpiring crew of Kevin Joyce and Ed McDonough spotted lightning off the first base side at Goodall Park and halted the game. After a delay of approximately one half-hour, it was determined the game would be unable to be finished and the decision was made to suspend the game until July 15.

When the action continued Sunday afternoon in Newport, the Gulls put up three more runs off of reliever Kurt Heaton (Suffolk County CC/Selden, N.Y.) in the top of the sixth inning. After Brandon May worked a one-out walk, French drove in his second and third runs of the ballgame with a home run to right-center field. Poulk immediately followed and made it back-to-back home runs with a solo blast to left-center field to extend the Newport lead to 11-1.

The Mainers picked up a run to cut it to 11-2 in the bottom of the seventh inning. With two outs, Meyer reached first base with a walk. He came in to score on Brian Kemp’s (St. John’s/East Rockaway, N.Y.) triple past a diving White in center field.

The Gulls would regain a 10-run lead with a run in the top of the eighth inning. May led off with a double and moved to third two batters later when Poulk’s double off the fence in left field put runners at second and third with one out. Two batters later, May scored on Iannetta’s single back up the middle to create the final 12-2 score.

Lapointe started and took the loss (2-2) on the mound for Sanford. In three innings of work (on June 27), he gave up eight runs (six earned) on eight hits, walked one, hit a batter, threw a wild pitch and struck out two.

Will Stroup started on the hill and earned the victory (3-2) for Newport. In five innings on the rubber, he gave up one run on five hits, walked nobody and recorded one strike out. Jeremy Johnson gave up one run on two hits and recorded five strikeouts over the final four innings to earn his first save of the season.

The Mainers return to action later this evening with the night’s regularly scheduled contest. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 at Cardines Field in Newport. Matt Janik and Nick Lima will have all the action at http://www.sanfordmainers.com.

A complete box score of today’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.