SANFORD — The clock had already blown past 11, and only a small remnant of the original Goodall Park crowd of 570 stuck around to see it.

But for those who did stick it out, the sight of Sanford Mainer Mike McCann sliding home with the winning run was well worth the wait.

McCann, who had legged out a triple to lead off the 11th inning, scampered in on a sharp grounder to third to give the Mainers a gritty, 3-2 triumph over the Newport Gulls.

It was a stylish ending for the beginning of the Mainers ninth home schedule.

“It’s a great way to win,” said McCann, a junior left fielder from Manhattan College. “A walk off in a home opener.”

For McCann, playing such a large part in the late night heroics before the home folks added resonance to the Goodall good vibe.

Having seen the park for the first time just the night before, McCann said it was love at first sight.

“This is a great field,” he said. “I loved it the second I saw it. It’s got a nice, old school atmosphere. This is great baseball out here.”

The Mainers fell behind to Newport, 2-0, in the top of the first, then waited more than 90 minutes for their first turn at bat, as rains descended on Goodall Park, forcing a delay.

Third baseman Matt Marra, who is returning for his second season, said that the team used the respite productively.

“We went in the dugout,” said Marra, “and hung out as a team. Got to know each other a little better. Once game time came back around, it was like, ”˜alright, let’s score some runs.’”

Marra helped see to that himself, by smacking a two-run single in the bottom of the third that knotted the score, 2-2.

The stalemate continued through the next seven innings, until McCann led off the bottom of the 11th by slicing a lead off triple into the heart of Goodall’s spacious center field gap.

“I wanted to get a good swing,” said McCann, who had been hitless in his previous seven at-bats of the young season. “I’d been just missing balls, and I finally got one. He (Newport reliever Matt Rogers) left

one right there and I jumped all over it.”

McCann didn’t remain planted at third base for long. When the next batter, Jim Schult, chopped a bounder to third, McCann took off and easily beat Logan Gillis’ throw to the plate.

“He (Mainers manager Aaron Izaryk) wanted me to stay there,” said McCann. “But once I saw it take that high hop, I was going for it. I thought that I could make it, and I did.”

Lucas Ellex, the last of Sanford’s five hurlers, pitched two innings and earned the win.

CHIN MUSIC: The life and career of legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden, who died Friday at age 99, transcended the generations as well as the sport.

Izaryk, who at 27 was born nearly a decade after “the Wizard of Westwood” retired, had a strong appreciation for Wooden’s accomplishments (including 10 NCAA national championships) and

speckless personal example.

“Certainly I’m not old enough to have seen him coach,” said Izaryk. “But if you’re a coach, you certainly know who John Wooden was. I’ve read his quotes, and I certainly believe in a lot of what he believed in. It’s sad to see him go, but he brought a lot to college basketball, and to coaching. There are coaches all over the world who want to be what John Wooden was, in their sport.

“As a coach, you’re a leader. And I think a lot of his principles can be taken in to life. The way he went about his business, and the way he went about his life, I think he had a lot of things right.”

The Mainers were to have played Sunday against the North Shore

Navigators in Lynn, Mass. However, the game was rained out, and was rescheduled for Thursday. They’ll take the field again tonight, when the Lowell All-Americans will visit Goodall. Returning lefty Colin Snow will get the start for Sanford.

— Contact Staff Writer Dan Hickling at dhickling@journaltribune.com.