Blues fall to the Mainers 4-1 in extra innings
The Bristol Blues lost a tightly contested game in extra innings to the Sanford Mainers 4-1 Thursday night at Muzzy Field.
The Mainers took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning thanks to a Kellen Strohmeyer (Iowa U of) RBI single. Joseph Duffield (Manhattan) shut out the Mainers for the remainder of his outing. Duffield finished his day with 5.1 innings pitched, allowed one earned run, five hits, two walks and one strikeout.
Connor Ball (Alabama U of) got the start for the Mainers. The Crimson Tide southpaw put up four zeros on the scoreboard to start the game. However, in the fifth inning, a Luka Nomura (Fairfield) single got the Blues on the board and tied the game 1-1.
With the game tied, both teams turned it over to the bullpen in the sixth inning. Vincent Spizzoucco (Central Connecticut State) and Thomas Galusha (Connecticut U of) combined for 3.1 innings pitched only allowing one hit, two walks and retired eight Sanford batters via strikeout. The Mainers brought out Nichols Melton (North Carolina Asheville U of) for the sixth inning, who went 1-2-3 to keep the game tied heading into the seventh. Tyler Longoira (St. Johns) pitched into the bottom of the ninth for Sanford and kept things tied at 1-1 to force extra innings.
The NECBL uses the same extra inning rules as the MLB, each team begins with a runner on second base to start the inning.
Kyle Emmons (Penn St.) was on the mound for the Blues to begin the tenth inning. A Zack Kent (SUNY Binghamton) single, brought home the ghost runner from second base to put Sanford out in front 2-1. Strohmeyer had another RBI hit in the tenth when he doubled to left field to drive in two more runs and make it a 4-1 game. Longoria stayed on the mound for Sanford in the bottom of the tenth to close the game out. Bristol was unable to mount a comeback and went on to lose by a final of 4-1.
The Blues are now 11-8 on the season and are in third place in the South division. The Mainers improve to 6-10 and are in third place in the North division.
The Blues will look to snap their two game losing streak when they travel to Upper Valley to take on the Nighthawks Friday night for a 6 p.m. game.
Written by Ryan McKenna
Photo Courtesy of Bristol Blues Instagram Page (@bristol_blues)
