Mainers Sweep Double Dip, Clinch Home Field in First Round
Sanford tops Holyoke 10-4, 6-3Sanford, ME – For the second straight night, the Sanford Mainers tallied two in the win column. This time the NECBL’s Northern division leader swept the Holyoke Blue Sox with 10-4 and 6-3 victories Monday night at Goodall Park in front of a season-high 803 fans. With the wins, the Mainers guaranteed themselves home-field advantage in the first round of the NECBL playoffs. Sanford is now 27-12 on the season, one shy of a club all-time record.
Sanford pounced early and often in game one. Brian Harris walked to lead off the first. After a Matt Nandin fielder’s choice, Branson Joseph singled to right. Will Greenberg lined a hanging breaking ball to left for a base-hit to load them up for Devin Harris. Harris walked on a full count to force in Brian Harris. Kyle Groth would make it 2-0 with a sacrifice fly to center, plating Joseph.
The Mainers added three more in the second, sending nine to the plate. Klint Reed singled to right to start the frame. Kevin Reimer ripped a double to the left-center field gap, bringing home Reed. Brian Harris came up with a base-hit of his own, with Reimer holding at third. After a Nandin lineout, Joseph hit a grounder to short. Peter Fatse bobbled it, allowing Reimer to score. Greenberg capped off a three-run fifth with a RBI single to left.
Sanford tallied two more in the third to make it 7-0. Greg Hopkins and Reed led off with back-to-back doubles to make it a 6-0 score. The Mainers would get their seventh run on a Brian Harris sacrifice fly. Holyoke got half of their offense in the top of the fifth. Shevis Shima came through with a two-run single to score Ken Gregory and John Zilnicki. The Mainers would get those runs right back in their half of the fifth. Brian Harris brought Reed home from third on an infield single to short and came in to score himself on a single by Nandin and an error by the right fielder Juan Perez.
The Mainers added one more insurance run in the bottom of the sixth on the bases loaded walk by Reed. Holyoke scored twice off of Andrew Keirstead in his Mainers’ debut. Pinch-hitter Jonathon Ross roped a two-run double off the wall in left to make it a 10-4 score.
Nick Cenatiempo was the winner and lasted six and a third innings and gave up two runs on four hits, walking two and punching out two. The right-hander from St. John’s improved to 4-3 on the season. Keirstead gave up two runs in two-thirds of an inning. Jared Balbach went only two-plus innings and gave seven runs, five earned, on eight hits.
Sanford would jump ahead early again in game two. Anthony D’Alfonso singled on a sharp liner to right to lead off the frame, followed by a Devin Harris base-hit up the middle. Will Greenberg tried to lay down a sacrifice bunt, but the bunt was right back to the mound and the pitcher Mike Lachapelle threw out the lead runner D’Alfonso at third. After a double steal, Hopkins hit a bouncing ball through the legs of third baseman Corey Jones allowing Devin Harris to score. Groth struck out. With runners on second and third and two away, Corey Hunt game through with a two-run single up the middle to give Sanford a 3-0 advantage.
Holyoke would come back to tie it with one in the third and two in the fourth. In the top of the third, Alex Hilliard chopped into a fielder’s choice with Jeremy Nowak coming in to score. Moving to the fourth, Peter Fatse and Nowak both delivered two-out run-scoring singles to knot the game up at three apiece.
The Mainers would bust it open in the bottom of the fifth, using six stolen bases in the same frame. Joseph walked with one out. With D’Alfonso at the plate, Joseph stole second base and advanced to third on a throwing error by the catcher Craig Turner. D’Alfonso slapped a base hit through the right side to give the Mainers the lead. With Devin Harris at the plate, D’Alfonso stole second base. The throw from Turner again trickled into center field, allowing D’Alfonso to move to third. Alex Hilliard, the centerfielder, had problems fielding the ball and the baserunner D’Alfonso was able to come all the way around from first base to score. Hopkins would single in Devin Harris later in the inning to make it a 6-3 score.
Kyle Davis started for Sanford. In four-plus innings, the right-hander allowed three runs, one earned, on five hits. Jeff DeCarlo pitched a flawless inning and two-thirds of relief in a winning effort. Pat Lehman made his first relief appearance of the year, and picked up save number one, retiring the last four hitters of the ballgame. Lachapelle pitched four-plus and gave up six runs, three of them earned.
***Box scores available at necbl.com
Notes…Sanford finished the season series 5-1 against Holyoke... The Mainers are a season-high 15 games over .500…Sanford had a season-high eight stolen bases… The Mainers have another doubleheader scheduled for Tuesday at Vermont. First pitch of game one is slated for 4:00. Audio and video streaming are both available at sanfordmainers.com for both games.