The Sanford Mainers of the New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) have rebounded from a tough start to the summer to even their record after 30 games.
Sanford lost their first five games on their schedule, and sat with a record of 5-10 through 15 contests. The Mainers have turned it around since, going 10-5 in their last 15 that included a 3-1 victory over the Vermont Mountaineers on Sunday at Goodall Park to get to .500 at 15-15. They’ve scored an average of eight runs per game in their last 10 victories. They’re currently in second place in the North Division, six games behind the first place Keene SwampBats (22-10).
Sanford has four guys that see alot of playing time that are hitting over .300 so far in Ryan Kolben (Cumberland Foreside, Maine and UMass-Amherst), Blake Shaaf (Wake Forest), Trey King (Georgia), and Brendan Sencaj (Bentley). On the pitching side, the bullpen has especially been good for the Mainers who don’t have any regular reliever with an earned run average over 2.91. Sam Mitchell (Alabama) has three saves, and Jason Libby (Bangor, Maine and the University of Maine) has started two games, has a pair of wins (2-1), and has struckout 20 batters in 16 innings pitched overall.
Sanford will attempt to climb over the .500 mark for the first time on the season when they take on the Upper Valley Nighthawks in White River Junction, Vermont on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
Featured photo is courtesy of Abby Harris Photography
