NEWS

SANFORD, Me. – In front of a crowd of over 650 people the Sanford Mainers rallied on Opening Day to tie the game in the fifth, but two runs in the eighth gave the Upper Valley Nighthawks the road win, 4-2.

 

Ryan Douglas (UNC-Asheville) started on the mound for the Mariners and had a strong outing. Douglas went through six innings, giving up six hits and allowing two runs, he also notched four punch outs.

 

The Nighthawks got the scoring going in the second inning when Nicholas Wang (College of the Holy Cross) hit a deep drive into center over the head of Kevin Skagerlind (UMass-Amherst), scoring William Sullivan (Troy) from first. Wang came around to score on the RBI single from Michael Goehrig (Eastern Kentucky), making it 2-0 Upper Valley. 

 

On the mound for the Nighthawks was Randall Alegio (St. Rose), who was back in White River Junction for the second straight year. Alejo went four innings of shutout baseball, allowing one hit, striking out four, walking and hitting a pair of batters.

 

Fast forward to the bottom of the fifth and the Mainers did some damage, MJ Lucas (UNC-Asheville) got things started with a deep single, AJ Cook (Elms) then doubled to put both in scoring position. Zane Raba (United States Naval Academy) brought Lucas home on a fielder’s choice and then Quinn McDaniel (Maine) drove in Cook with an RBI single to tie it at 2.

 

Chic DeGaetano (Villanova) was on the mound when Sanford got on the board, but after that he was dealing. He retired his last eleven batters, including three strikeouts. 

 

Zackary Given (UMass-Amherst) entered for Sanford in the seventh, and he struck out the side, but ran into trouble in the top half of the eighth.

 

With the bases loaded, Luca Trigiani, (St. Joes) who is returning to Upper Valley for another season, was the hero with two outs driving in Logan Eickoff (Eastern Illinois) and Sullivan to give the Nighthawks the lead, 4-2.

 

Tyler Legere (Lipscomb) came out in the ninth for the Nighthawks and worked around a leadoff single, with a pair of strikeouts, including the final out by putting down Lucas on strikes.

 

DeGaetano picked up the win, Given took the loss, and Legere had the save. 

 

The Mainers will hit the road for a three-game road trip in Connecticut starting with the reigning-champions Danbury Westerners on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.

 

Danbury started the year with a win over Ocean State, 5-2, both Henry Strmecki and Hank Thomas had two RBIs in the victory.  

 

Jacob Marshall is expected to be on the hill for Sanford, while Julian Tonghini is the probable starter for the Westerners.

 

Photo Courtesy of Emmy Vitali, VitaliVisuals

 

About the Sanford Mainers:

Sanford Mainers Baseball is Southern Maine's Premier Baseball Experience located in Sanford, Maine and is one of 13 members of the New England Collegiate Baseball League, as well as a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 2001, playing its first season in 2002. The Sanford Mainers are committed to providing an outlet for collegiate baseball players from across the country to assist in skill development, while also acting as a community partner to the Southern Maine region in regard to youth activities, internships, volunteerism, and more. The Mainers are two-time league champions, taking home the title in 2004 and 2008. For more information on the Sanford Mainers, please visit our website at www.sanfordmainers.com or follow on Facebook at facebook.com/sanfordmainers or on Twitter and Instagram at @sanford_mainers.