SANFORD ”“ Six to three.
As anyone with a passion for the game knows, it’s one of the most routine plays in baseball.
But for the Sanford Mainers, that phrase takes on an entirely different, and more challenging, meaning starting now.
To chalk up their third NECBL championship in the team’s 10 year history, the Mainers will have to record six playoff wins within the next two weeks.
The first of those could come tonight, when Sanford will visit the North Shore Navigators at Fraser Field in Lynn, Mass., in the first of a best of three Eastern Division semifinal set.
The Mainers will return home for Thursday’s Game 2, with a third game, if necessary, to be played Friday in Lynn.
After a challenging regular campaign that produced a 20-22 record, the club is ready to try to end the summer slate on the highest note.
“We’re all excited,” said Sanford shortstop Marlon Calbi. “Everyone in our line up is hot. We’re looking forward to it.”
The teams met six times this year, with the Navigators (22-20), the defending NECBL champions, winning four of the encounters.
Sanford, which won titles in 2004 and 2008, went just 3-7 down the home stretch, but won two of its last three, and did so in rousing fashion.
“That was definitely key,” said Calbi. “It made us relax a little bit. It was a little hectic there at the end. We didn’t really know what was going on. Now that we know who we’ve got, we’re definitely looking forward to it.”
Although the Navs finished two games ahead of Sanford, there is hardly a smidgen of daylight between the two teams.
Having faced each other so often, including Monday’s regular season wrap up (won by North Shore, 6-3), there are no secret strategies waiting to be unrolled.
What each side professes is strong respect for the other.
“They (the Navigators) play the game hard,” said Sanford manager Aaron Izaryk. “They play the game right. Their starting pitching is very good, and offensively, they have a bunch of left handed hitters who put the ball in play. They’re similar to us in that they get the ball in play with two strikes quite often.”
North Shore manager Jeff Waldron, a former catcher in the Red Sox minor league system, agreed.
“We’re just like them,” Waldron said. “We’re a competitive group. The guys want to win and they want to play well. At this point, it’s about executing and getting timely hits, timely pitching. And crossing your fingers.”
Saving enough fingers, of course, to count to six.
CHIN MUSIC: Tonight’s pitching matchup will feature RHP A.J. Bazdanes (2-1, 2.46) against North Shore RHP Crayton Bare (2-2, 3.89). The two faced each other once before, on July 1, when Bare recorded the win. Bazdanes threw 7.2 strong innings of two hit ball in that game, and didn’t figure in the decision. ”¦ The Mainers had planned to hold a work out at Goodall Park, Tuesday. However, that was washed out by a strong storm that rolled through Sanford. ”¦
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