Down 5-4 in the bottom of the sixth, Sanford’s James Roche would hit a game-tying RBI single, and later Keith Kerrigan would hit a bases-clearing triple to give the Spartans the 8-5 lead that would be enough to secure the win.
Sanford coach Mark Boissonneault was pleased to see his team make the late plays to win the game, despite giving up a four-run lead.
“The unfortunate part is that (that) is where our season has been. When you look at our first seven games, we have been winning going into the third and fourth inning, but then we coast and I don’t know what happens … we fall apart in the field and our mentality comes into question,” said Boissonneault. “But it’s amazing what a few hits can do and what momentum can do, we will take the win and build on this.”
Sanford’s first four runs all came in the first inning. Brad Bouchard hit a two-run double, while Roche and Kerrigan later added RBI singles.
Noble would earn two runs in the third inning on an RBI single from Jake Lacroix along with another RBI from Kasey Rogers.
Tyler Merrill would later hit a two-run double in the fourth, while Coby Johnson would add another RBI in the fifth to give the Knights the 5-4 lead.
Michael Ravesi took the mound for Sanford, pitching three innings and allowing two runs on three hits and collecting three strikeouts.
Shawn Merrifield would then pitch an inning in relief, giving up three more runs on four hits and striking out one. Bouchard would pitch the remaining three innings, allowing no runs and one hit and striking out two.
Lacroix pitched the six innings for Noble, giving up eight runs on 10 hits and striking out five.
Boissoneault was happy to see his kids compete and enjoy a hard-fought victory.
“I’ve been doing this a long time, so it’s about the kids that are in there battling. People lose focus that these kids want to win and they want to do well, this is about them. I’m happy for them,” said Boissonneault.
Heading into the sixth inning, Boissoneault told his team to take it one at bat at a time and try to get runners on base.
“We just needed to string some hits together, if you string hits together good things will happen, that’s what we talked about,” said Boissoneault. “In those middle innings, we constantly talk about quality at-bats and I questioned some of the at-bats that we were having, but what makes me happy is that it was a two-out rally. We go over those situations at practice and it was good to see that we came through.”
Boissoneault hopes that Tuesday’s win will give his players confidence and will allow them to play a little more loosely moving forward.
“It is such a team game, that’s what we stress to these kids. Once the ball is out of your hands, whether you are pitching or fielding, it is out of your control. You would see times where we would have bad luck and they would grip the bat a little tighter and be tight on the field, so it was good to have some good luck today, it’s a good feeling and it’s good for the kids.”
— Sports Staff Writer Alex Sponseller can be reached at sports@journaltribune.com or at 282-1535 ext. 323. Follow the Journal Tribune Sports Department on Twitter @ JournalTsports.
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