RUDDY DOUBLE KEYS EIGHT-RUN SIXTH
FOR MAINERS;
SANFORD CLOBBERS CONCORD, 10-4
SANFORD
– Bubba Ruddy’s bases-clearing, three-run double highlighted an
eight-run bottom of the sixth inning for the Sanford Mainers as
they defeated the Concord Quarry Dogs 10-4 in NECBL play at
Goodall Park on Saturday night. The win was the season-high
fifth in a row for Sanford, who pulls into a tie with Concord
for the Northern Division’s fourth and final playoff spot. Ruddy
added an RBI single to finish 3-for-5 with four runs batted in,
and Brian Kemp went 3-for-5 with three RBIs in the victory for
Sanford (18-22). Dan Betteridge went 2-for-3 with a double, a
run scored and a walk in defeat for Concord (18-22).
After Sanford’s Kevin Landry (William & Mary/Vienna, Va.) and
Concord’s Stephen Whalen dueled on the mound through the first
five innings, the Mainers struck first with a run in the bottom
of the sixth inning. With one out, Tyler Stovall (Central
Michigan/Cincinnati, Ohio) worked a walk and stole second base.
Two batters later, Bubba Ruddy (Cypress CC, Orange, Calif.)
picked up his 20th run batted in of the season with a single to
right field to drive home Stovall with the first run of the
game.
Sanford would blow the game wide open in the bottom of the
seventh inning, as they sent 14 men to plate and scored eight
times on six hits. Tim Kalczynski (Michigan/Farmington Hills,
Mich.) started it all when he led off with a single back through
the middle. He then moved to second base on a passed ball and to
third on a line-drive single through the right side by Jeff
Helps (Central Michigan/Wyoming, Ontario). Brian Kemp (St.
John’s/East Rockaway, N.Y.) followed by legging out an infield
single to second base, scoring Kalczynski to make it 2-0 and
moving Helps to second base. The runners moved to second and
third when Noah Lankford (Central Michigan/Cincinnati, Ohio)
laid down a sacrifice bunt for the first out of the inning.
Lankford was the final batter Whalen would face as Concord went
to the bullpen and brought in Greg Donnan. After getting Jeff
Grantham (St. John’s/Randolf, N.J.) to pop up to second base,
Donnan hit Stovall and Scott Guillerault (Wheaton/South
Portland, Maine) with back-to-back pitches to load the bases and
drive in a run, respectively. Helps scored when Guillerault was
plunked to make it 3-0, and the bases remained loaded with two
outs. Ruddy then doubled the Mainers lead with a double to the
gap in left-center field to drive home all three runs and extend
the lead to 6-0. Tim Keene (Massachusetts Lowell/Berlin, N.H.)
was the ninth man of the inning to bat, and he hit a single
through the right side to move Ruddy to third base and chase
Donnan from the game. Julio Nunez entered and walked Kalczynski
and Helps back-to-back to force Ruddy home from third and make
it 7-0 Sanford. The Quarry Dogs then brought Ryan Walfield out
of the bullpen, and he immediately surrendered a double down the
right-field line by Kemp to drive in Keene and Kalczynski to
extend the Mainers lead to 9-0. After walking Lankford, Walfield
finally closed out the inning by getting Grantham to foul out to
right field.
Sanford pushed the lead to double digits at 10-0 with another
run in the bottom of the eighth inning off of
center-fielder-turned-relief-pitcher Josh Logan. Stovall led off
the inning with a solo home run to right field for his
team-leading 25th run batted in of the season. It was the first
home run of the campaign for Stovall, as well as the first home
run hit by a Mainer at Goodall Park this year.
The Quarry Dogs scored four times in the top of the ninth inning
to create the 10-4 final score. Phil St. Amant led off with a
single through the right side and moved to third base on a
double down the right-field line by Dan Betteridge which chased
Landry from the ballgame. The Mainers turned the lead over to
Kurt Heaton (Suffolk County CC/Selden, N.Y.) who walked Brad
Agustin and Simi Reynolds to force home St. Amant with Concord’s
first run of the ballgame. Dan Lopez followed with an infield
single back up the middle to plate Betteridge to make it 10-2.
Heaton then walked Meyers to drive home Agustin to make it 10-3
and give Meyers his league-leading 35th run batted in of the
season. Dylan Libadisos then hit a sacrifice fly ball to
centerfield to score Reynolds. Jake Smith followed and fouled
out to first base, and William Long hit a groundball that saw
Meyer forced out at second base to end the ballgame.
The Mainers return to action on Sunday, July 29 when they host
the Keene Swamp Bats in Sanford’s final regular season home
game. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Goodall Park in
Sanford. Matt Janik and Bob Lund 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.
