SANFORD — The Sanford Mainers cruised to a 12-2 win over the Upper Valley Nighthawks in the first game of the New England College Baseball playoffs Thursday night at Goodall Park.

The star of the game was Sanford pitcher Cole Whitney, who pitched 7 2/3 innings, allowing no runs on just two hits while collecting three strikeouts.

“Cole was outstanding, I told him before the game that I had a good feeling for him today,” said Sanford manager Chris Morris. “He’s really built up all summer and he was outstanding tonight.”

Whitney was happy with his performance, as well as the defense behind him.

“I was able to keep them off-balance and that was the big thing … but there were some big plays in the field too that could have been hits. We pulled together and did what we had to do,” said Whitney.

The Sanford bats also took off Thursday, scoring 12 runs on 19 hits, putting up points in six different innings.

“We just put some good swings on some good pitches and we played really hard,” said Morris. “If you can do those two things then you’re going to be successful and our guys have been that the last two weeks and it’s been really good.”

Run support also allowed Whitney to relax on the mound.

“It is a ton easier, seeing in the first inning a few runs being put on the board, it takes the weight off your shoulders. It doesn’t make you want to slow down, but it gives you leeway.”

Sanford jumped on Upper Valley early, scoring two runs in the first inning on an RBI single from Shaine Hughes and a sac fly from Michael Landestoy.

Tristan Chari added an RBI single in the third, followed by an RBI double from Todd Czinege and an RBI single from Landestoy in the fourth to make it 5-0. Czinege later added an RBI in the fifth.

The Mainer bats exploded in the seventh inning, scoring six more runs and taking a 12-0 lead.

Johnny Slater kicked off the scoring tear with an RBI triple, followed by RBI singles from Hughes and Chris Gaetano to make it 9-0. Sam Stauble then hit a three-run double the following at-bat.

Upper Valley’s lone two runs came in the top of the ninth on a two-run double from Trent Leimkueler.

After playing back-to-back doubleheaders Tuesday and Wednesday, Upper Valley turned to it’s position players to pitch, and used seven different arms on the night.

Whitney’s sharp performance ensured Sanford would not experience the same problem

“It’s the playoffs – every arm counts and every arm matters,” said Morris. “So for him to eat up as many innings as he did like that was huge. It allows us to be fresh and rested up for tomorrow night. I can’t say enough how proud I am of him and how well he pitched tonight.”

Morris hopes his team continues to impress for game two today at Upper Valley.

“We just need to keep doing what we’re doing, we don’t need to switch anything, there’s no secret recipe,” said Morris. “We just need to keep coming to the park playing hard everyday and playing Mainers baseball, and that’s what we’re going to do.”

Whitney believes that Thursday’s win gives his team some momentum heading into tonight’s match.

“It gives us a lot of momentum, we have been rolling (as) of late,” said Whitney. “We’ve been playing together and hopefully it takes us to where we need to be.”

— 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.