HARTFORD, VERMONT — The Sanford Mainers took their talents on the road once again on Thursday night as they knocked off the Northern Division leading Upper Valley Nighthawks by a final of 5-2 at the Maxfield Sports Complex, giving the Moose their fourth consecutive victory.
The bullpen once again came up huge for the Mainers, yet again not allowing a run, and the offense was able to play their game to pick up the win.
Sanford kicked off the scoring for the second straight game as they put up two runs in the top of the second. The Mainers scored their first run as Nick Howie (Oakville, Ontario, Canada/Eastern Kentucky) roped an RBI single into left field that scored Tyler Solomon (Haymarket, Va./Vanderbilt) and put the Mainers up 1-0.
The very next batter was Harrison Salter (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Michigan) who struck out swinging but as the third strike hit the dirt and made a tough play for the Nighthawks catcher, Brad Czerniejewski (Lake Forest, Illinois/Texas Christian University) used his smart base running skills to motor home from third and give the Moose a 2-0 lead.
Upper Valley was able to tie it up at 2 in the bottom of the third on an RBI double and a sac fly but that was all the scoring one of the hottest offenses in the league would be able to muster on the entire night. Despite the two runs, Dylan Hall (Stafford, Va./Virginia Tech) had an outstanding night on the mound as he picked up his first win on the season and threw five innings striking out four and surrendering only a single walk.
The Mainers would tack on two more runs in back to back innings to put them up 4-2 after six. In the top of the fifth, Sanford’s Jonathan White (Lawrenceville, Ga./Presbyterian) smacked an RBI single to left that scored Richie Schiekofer (Millburn, N.J./Maryland) from second to give the Mainers the lead again at 3-2. In the sixth, Salter picked up his second RBI of the night on a ground out that scored Shane Marshall (Webster, N.Y./Binghamton) from third giving the Moose their two run lead back.
Just for insurance purposes, the Moose picked up their fifth run in the top of the ninth after Johnny Rizer (Cypress, TX/Texas Christian University) was hit by a pitch to start the inning and the red-hot Jake Alu (Hamilton, N.J./Boston College) knocked him around on a double back up the middle.
The Sanford bullpen once again was lights out as they put up six scoreless innings to finish off the game making it the fourth straight game where the bullpen has thrown at least four scoreless innings, all of them resulting in wins for the Moose.
Dean Stramara (Pottsville, Pa./Towson), Mike Vasturia (Medford, N.J./Maryland), Kyle Skidmore (Franklin, Mass./Hofstra) and John Murphy (Merchantville, N.J./Maryland) combined for seven strike outs and only one walk while giving up just three hits.
Murphy picked up the save for his second on the year, right behind his teammate Jack Weisenburger (Rockford, Mich./Michigan) for the league lead. Skidmore was the picture of efficiency as he came on for 1 2/3 innings and only threw seven pitches.
Sanford will have two straight at home starting tonight as they play host to the North Adams Steeplecats and try to keep their hot play moving.