LYNN, Mass. — This might go down as one of the great “woulda coulda” games in Sanford Mainers playoff history.
Presented with the chance to knock the North Shore Navigators out of the postseason, the Mainers instead pulled their punches and suffered a 3-2 setback in Game 2 of their best of three NECBL East Division semifinal, before 745 at Fraser Field.
Sanford took Game 1, the last 4 1â„2 innings of which had to be completed earlier in the day, 5-4.
The upshot is that the teams will play tonight (6:35) at Goodall Park for the right to face the Newport Gulls in the Eastern Conference final.
As well, the Mainers, defending NECBL champions, need a win to keep their dream of repeating alive.
“It’s a bummer that we couldn’t win (the series) tonight,” said left fielder Dylan Pratt. “But at the same time, we’ve got confidence going into tomorrow.”
That sense of bravado was echoed by Kenny Monteith, who gave up three runs early, then slammed the door on the Navs.
“We’re a good enough team that we can win the whole league,” said Monteith.
The Mainers were forced to gear up for an uphill climb from the bottom of the first inning on.
North Shore touched Monteith for three runs in that frame, beginning North Shore leadoff man Tre Dennis reaching on an infield single.
The big blow came when Navs’ DH Kent Graham hit a two-run double.
“I felt that they got a couple lucky hits,” said Monteith. “You can’t let those affect you. Those are going to happen. I felt I was fine the whole night. I was motivated.”
After leaving runners in scoring position in three straight innings, Sanford began chipping away at the deficit in the top of the fifth.
Mark Micowski got the Mainers going with a one-out solo shot taht pulled just fair over the rightfield fence.
One out later, a walk to Pratt sandwiched between Mike Roth and Corey Thompson singles, produced another run, making it 3-2.
Mainers hitters continued to struggle after getting runners on base.
Sanford stranded 10 runners, marooning seven in scoring position.
In the seventh, Mike Roth sliced an opposite field double with one away, then remained glued at second base.
Then, in the next inning, Ethan Wilson, pinch-running for Tucker Nathans (who fouled a ball off his foot), made it as far as third.
But that was it.
“We were one hit away,” said Sanford manager Aaron Izaryk. “They got their one hit early. We needed our one hit late.”
The loss came on the heels of the Mainers’ win in the resumption of Sunday’s Game 1. A thickening fog that had blanketed Goodall Park halted the game.
Sanford held a 5-2 lead at the pick up point, but the Navigators scored twice in the top of the sixth to draw within a run.
Mainers hurlers Lucas Nellis and Tyler Mizenko slammed the door from that point on.
CHIN MUSIC: The Mainers will be without their No. 1 starter, righthander Matt Murray, the rest of the way. Murray, who was the Game 1 starter, aggravated a pre-existing injury to his pitching elbow, and has returned home”¦Colin Snow will get the start for the Mainers, tonight.
— Contact Dan Hickling at dhickling@journaltribune.com.
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