NEWPORT, RI ”“ The Sanford Mainers were unceremoniously bounced from the 2012 New England Collegiate Baseball League playoffs Sunday night.
The Newport Gulls unleashed a 22-hit offensive attack on their way to an 18-1 victory over the Mainers in Game 3 of their best-of three series.
The Gulls advanced to the Division Finals with a 2-1 series victory.
“The guys played hard right until the end,” said Sanford head coach Aaron Izaryk. “There was no give-up and that’s all you can ask in a game like that.
“Newport had their best going and we couldn’t miss a bat tonight. They certainly showed why they are the No. 1 seed.”
The Gulls broke on top in the second inning when they loaded the bases with one out. Conor Keniry pushed home the first run of the game with a sacrifice fly to give Newport a 1-0 lead.
Newport added a pair of runs in each of the third, fourth and fifth innings to surge into a comfortable lead.
Charlie White doubled to start the third and scored on Kasey Coffman’s single. Coffman then scored on a double by Brett Winger to make it 3-0.
In the fourth Keniry led off with a single and stole second. Three consecutive singles followed to score a pair of runs and give the Gulls a 5-0 advantage.
Austin Slater added a two-run home run that gave the Gulls a commanding seven-run advantage through five innings.
The round tripper marked the end of Tripp Davis’ evening. The Mainers’ starter, the first of five Sanford pitchers, allowed seven runs on 11 hits in four-plus innings.
Pete Kelich kept a lid on the Mainers’ offense. The Newport starter allowed only three hits while striking out 10 in six shutout innings.
“(Kelich) threw strikes and put our hitters on their heels,” Izaryk said. “He took care of business.”
Trailing 9-0, the Mainers finally got on the board in the seventh against Newport reliever Tanner Chleborad. Anthony Hajjar started the inning with a double, moved to third on a ground out and scored on Jose Torralba’s single to make it a 9-1 contest.
Newport continued to pour it on the the latter innings tacking on four more runs in the seventh and five in the eighth.
“A result like this definitely leaves a bad taste in your mouth and leaves you hungry for next year. You just hope that you don’t get in this position again. You have to learn from your experiences and you can’t forget about it. Hopefully we’re on the other end next time.”
— Contact Mark Jeanneret at 282-1535, Ext. 323.
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