Trailing by two runs in the top of the ninth inning, the New Bedford Bay Sox rallied to score five times to defeat the Sanford Mainers, 9-6, on Wednesday night in their most impressive win of the season.

With two outs and the bases loaded, Nick Matera (Rutgers) lined a hard single to left field to score T.J. Lake (West Virginia), then Luke Bakula (Kansas) cleared the bases with a three-run triple to deep center field to give the Bay Sox an 8-6 lead.  Jordan Fucci (Samford) scored Bakula with a single to make it 9-6, and reliever Andrew Tumbelty (Rider) pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to earn his first win of the season.

The win moves New Bedford to the top of the Southern Division, as their 4-1 record is tied with the Danbury Westerners for the best mark in the early NECBL season.

The Bay Sox were kept off the scoreboard during the first six innings of play, with Sanford pitchers Nick Wojtysiak, Benjamin Lambert, and Joe Orlando combining to allow just four hits and two walks as the Mainers held a 3-0 lead.  But New Bedford scored four times in the seventh, with all the damage coming with two outs.

Dan Schock (Sacred Heart) singled with one out, and moved to second on a two-out base hit from Dante Baldelli (Boston College).  Corey Joyce (North Carolina Central) drew a walk on four pitches to load the bases, which set the stage for Nick Neville (Notre Dame) to drive in New Bedford’s first two runs of the game with a single to right field.  Orlando was pulled for Joe Kelly (not the same one that throws 102 mph for the Red Sox), and Kevin Brophy (West Virginia) greeted him with a double to deep center field that gave the Bay Sox their first lead of the contest.

But that lead did not last long, as the Mainers responded by scoring three times in the bottom of the seventh to reclaim a two-run lead.  Two singles and a walk loaded the bases with one down, and Ryan Hogan sent all three of his teammates home with a double to right center field to make it 6-4.

Sanford loaded the bases in the bottom of the third inning on three straight singles, but starting pitcher Brendan Jenkins (San Francisco) got out of the inning allowing just one run.  He induced a 4-6-3 double play from center fielder JT Pittman that scored the first run of the game, and then struck out Jimmy Kerr for the final out of the inning.

Kerr got his revenge on Jenkins in the fifth inning, as he launched his first homer of the season to right field to give the Mainers a 3-0 advantage.  Kerr drove in Pittman, who reached with two outs on an error, which made his run unearned.

Other than the home run, Jenkins was impressive in his second solid start of the season.  He went five innings on Wednesday night, allowing three runs (two earned) on six hits, with one walk and four strikeouts. 

After this exciting come-from-behind victory, the Bay Sox will return home for “Harry Potter Night” at Paul Walsh Field on Thursday night, as they take on the Newport Gulls for the second time this year.  The game starts at 6:30pm, with gates opening at 5:30pm.

Adam Belue