The Sanford Mainers returned to the Northeast Collegiate Baseball League Championship Series for the first time since 2016 on Wednesday night. The #4 seed would face a familiar foe in the #2 Newport Gulls for a best of three with the summer league title on the line. This is the third time Sanford has met Newport in the five times they’ve been to the championship series, winning two of the previous three against the Gulls for the two titles they’ve won in their franchise history. It would also be the first time since 2015 that the final round series would go to a full three games.
In Game 1 at Cardines Field in Newport, Rhode Island on Wednesday night- Sanford drew first blood in the opening game, scoring four times in the seventh inning to pull away from Newport in a 7-1 victory. The Mainers never trailed scoring a run in the third on a Colin Barczi RBI single, and one in the fifth on a sacrifice fly by Evin Sullivan for a 2-0 lead. They put it away in that four-run seventh on another RBI single by Barczi, a RBI single by Devan Bade, and a two-run single by Blake Schaaf that made it 6-0. Barczi and Jackson Tucker had three hits a piece, while Sullivan, Bade, and Jared Davis added two each. Connor Ball picked up the win on the mound allowing no runs on four hits with two walks and five strikeouts in 7.0 innings. Ball hasn’t allowed a run in 15.0 innings (two starts) pitched during the playoffs, striking out 14 batters and walking just four. Aidan Coleman lost on the hill for the Gulls giving up two runs on six hits with one walk and three strikeouts in 4.1 innings. Niko Brini, Randy Seymour, and Jack Doyle (1 RBI) each had two hits as Newport lost for the first time in the postseason (4-1).
In Game 2 at Goodall Park in Sanford on Thursday night and Saturday evening at Cardines Field in Newport- In a contest that was suspended by rain in the bottom of the fifth inning and moved to Rhode Island on Saturday to complete, the Newport Gulls forced a decisive Game 3 by scoring five times in the top of the fifth for a 7-3 win. The Gulls needing the victory to keep their season alive would never trail, getting a two-run single from Tyler Minnick in the second inning for a 2-0 lead. They broke it open in the fifth taking advantage of two Sanford errors to score all five runs unearned. A Mainers throwing miscue, a double by Greg Bozzo, and a single from Carmelo Mussachia extended the advantage to 7-0 and gave them a chance to defend their title on their home field. Caleb Shpur had two hits to lead Sanford, and Joshua Kopetski lost on the hill giving up two runs on four hits over 3.0 innings. Cole Cheatham picked up the pitching win for Newport, while Andrew Duncan, Minnick, and Mussachia had two hits each.
In the championship game also at Cardines Field in Newport, RI Saturday evening- In a wild back and forth contest that saw both teams hold a lead, the Newport Gulls would repeat as Fay Vincent Sr. Cup Champions with a walkoff 8-7 victory in 10 innings. It is the eighth title for the Gulls, and the first time since 2009 that they’ve celebrated that on their home field. Sanford had an early 2-1 lead, but Newport exploded with two long homeruns as part of a five-run fourth inning to take a 6-2 advantage. Dixon Williams hit a two-run homer, and Matthew Ossenfort crushed a no doubt three-run shot later in the frame. The Mainers would rally back though. A two-run single by Bade would cut it to 6-4 in the seventh, and then in the eighth inning Shpur tied it with a two-run homerun and Christopher Willis put Sanford back on top 7-6 with an RBI single. The Gulls would send it to extras when Tyler Hare hit his second solo homer of the night with one out in the ninth. Newport set up the winning run in the last of the 10th when Brini led off and was hit by a pitch and Duncan followed with a walk, setting the stage for Williams who would deliver with a walk-off single to end it. Shpur (UConn) led all hitters in the loss for Sanford with five hits and two RBI. Tucker (St. John’s) and Davis (Florida Southwestern State) also had two hits each. Beau Brailey (Alabama) suffered the defeat on the hill in relief. Hare and Williams had two hits a piece for Newport, with Hare finishing with two RBI and Williams and Ossenfort driving in three each. Drew Delucia picked up the relief win on the mound. The Gulls finish their season with a record of 33-17. The Mainers end a very successful season with a final record of 31-20, winning 16 of the final 19 games they played.
Photos from a Sanford Mainers game at Goodall Park in 2023 by Chris Lessner. Sanford lost a heartbreaker in 10 innings Saturday night to the Newport Gulls in Rhode Island in the championship game of the Northeast Collegiate Baseball League
