SANFORD — Failures in the field have been the Sanford Mainers’ bugaboo all season long.
Wednesday night was no exception, as four Mainers errors paved the rutted road to a 7-6 loss to the Keene Swamp Bats, before a crowd of 766 at Goodall Park.
Each Keene run was unearned, including the half dozen that poured across in the second inning, and the winning run, which came home in the top of the ninth.
“If you can’t make routine plays,” said Mainers’ manager Aaron Izaryk, “you can’t win in this league. You can hit all you want. But if you can’t pick the ball up and make a routine play, you’re going to have a lot of trouble winning consistantly.”
Winning is what the Mainers have done plenty of lately, although this loss interrupts their victory skein at a season-high four.
Spoiled in the process was a gutsy seven-inning effort by Mainers starter Kenny Monteith, as well as a strong effort by Sanford hitters to erase a six-run Swamp Bat lead.
Monteith was one two-out ground ball away from escaping a bases loaded second inning jam.
Instead, second baseman Tucker Nathans misplayed that grounder by Correy Figueroa, opening the floodgates to Keene’s six-run eruption.
That put the Mainers in a hole that was deep, but not escape proof.
“People are going to make errors,” said Monteith. “You’ve just got to get behind them and pick them back up.”
Monteith did his part for the Sanford cause by handcuffing the Swamp Bats throughout the remainder of his outing, retiring all but one of the last 15 hitters he faced.
“From the second inning on,” Monteith said, “I felt like it was a 0-0 ball game. I was just going to out there and give it my all.
“Playing at home is one of the best things. You feel good all the time. So something like that second inning, you can’t let it bring you down. The fans are here to watch you. They don’t want to see you throw your glove, or something bad like that.”
Izaryk has come to expect such intrepid performances from the Winthrop University junior.
“He did exactly what we wanted him to do,” he said. “Kenny Monteith showed us a lot, today.”
Meanwhile, Sanford hitters began the task of chipping away at the deficit, touching Keene starter (and ex-Mainer) Nick Cenatiempo for two runs in both the third and fifth to draw to within 6-4.
Then in the sixth, they knotted the game, 6-6, on a two-run single by Matt Marra, whose come backer hit off the glove of Keene reliever Kyle McMyne and bounded into right field.
The stalemate continued until the top of the ninth, when, with two on and one away, Sanford second baseman Adam DuVall gloved Chris Edmondson’s hopper in the hole, then threw the ball past first base before reliever Neil Holland could reach the bag.
That allowed Josh Chester to score what proved to be the winning run.
CHIN MUSIC: Cenatiempo, who pitches for St. John’s University, was a member of the Mainers’ NECBL championship squad last year. He signed with Keene last week, after waiting in vain for a bid to land a spot in the Cape Cod League. Still, he said, his first trip back to Goodall brought back plenty of great memories. “It feels great to be back,” he said. “I love this place. I love to pitch here.” Cenatiempo was on the mound for the final 12â„3 innings in Sanford’s title clinching, 4-1, win over Newport last Aug. 10, earning the save. ”¦ Another of baseball’s small world moments took place after the game, when Izaryk chatted with Keene manager Marty Testo, who is also is associate head baseball coach at Keene St. College. The two were assistants together at KSC Izaryk moved on to UMaine. ”¦ Figueroa left the game in the third inning after injuring himself while diving for a ball at shortstop. ”¦ Sanford OF Justin Hilt is finished for the season after an MRI revealed damage to his knee. Hilt’s spot has been taken by Pace University junior Chris Spatkowski, who entered the game in the sixth as a pinch-runner and wound up scoring the game-tying run on Marra’s single. ”¦ The Mainers will play at Pittsfield tonight before returning home Friday (6:35 p.m.) to face North Adams.
— Contact Dan Hickling at dhickling@journaltribune.com.
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