Muskrats Put Mainers Away Early in Runaway Loss
Photography by Remi Frisby
Written by Ryan Zimmerman
Director of Broadcasting and Media
SANFORD – The Mainers were unable to slow down a Winnipesaukee Muskrats offense that fired on all cylinders, taking a 17-2 loss to their Northern Division rival.
From the get-go, the Muskrats hit the ground running. In the game’s very first inning, they sent 13 batters to the plate and pushed across nine runs, of which only two were earned, on five hits.
Throughout the rest of the contest, the visitors refused to slow down. They spread out eight runs over the course of the remaining eight innings and added another 13 hits.
Despite the lopsided final score, the Mainers can find plenty of positives in the way they played. Offensively, they racked up seven hits and left just five runners on base. Connor Tate (Bishop, Ga./Georgia) recorded two hits and a run batted in while Casey Buckley (Long Beach, Calif./Michigan) and Robbie Armitage (Falmouth, Maine/Marist College) both reached base twice.
With two outs in the ninth inning, Elliott Curtis (Waterloo, Ontario, Canada/Kentucky) crushed a Rhian Mann fastball over the fence in right-center field for his first home run of the 2019 season, giving himself something to smile about on his home nation’s Independence Day.
On the hill, Connor Peplow (Plainfield, Ill./Illinois State) showcased the fastball that helped him become a key cog in the Moose bullpen. After entering in the eighth inning with the bases loaded and no outs, he struck out the side, shutting down a Muskrat offense that had been hitting everything in sight. He finished his outing after two innings of shutout baseball with four punch outs.
The Mainers have a day off tomorrow and will look to recapture their winning ways on Wednesday when they head northwest to White River Junction for a doubleheader with the Upper Valley Nighthawks. Be sure to tune in on the NECBL Broadcast Network and 104.3 FM/1220 AM “The Legends” to catch all the action beginning at 4:00 PM. In the meantime, you can keep up with everything Mainers baseball by heading over to sanfordmainers.com and following the team on social media.
