SANFORD, Maine – It was a tale of two different games in one as the bats came alive late in game one during the quarterfinals of the New England League Postseason to give the Bristol Blues a 12-7 victory over the Sanford Mainers.

Bristol opened the scoring in the third inning as Connor Goodman (Maine) worked a leadoff walk against Sanford starter Ryan Dee (Binghamton). After a sacrifice bunt moved Goodman into scoring position, Jordan Peyton (Towson) worked a walk as the final pitch of the plate appearance was not just a ball, but a wild pitch that allowed Goodman to advance to third.

Tyler Fote (Central Connecticut State) came to the plate with runners on the corners and sent a ball into center field that proved deep enough to bring home Goodman despite the catch by Cal Hewett (Vanderbilt).

The Blues held that 1-0 lead into the bottom of the sixth inning as Randy Reyes (Grambling State) allowed just one hit through his first five innings of work on the bump. Reyes recorded the first out during his sixth inning on the bump, but Jeremiah Jenkins (Maine) doubled the Mainers hit total in the next at-bat.

Jenkins bloop hit into left field carried into foul territory allowing the Mainers first baseman to pull into second base with a double. The lefty power hitter moved to third when Devan Bade (Binghamton) found his way into left field with a single off a new pitcher in Jaden Wywoda (Holy Cross).

Eddie Eisert (Virginia Tech) matched Fote’s plate appearance from the third inning with a sacrifice fly of his own to knot the score at one apiece.

That run proved to be the start of an offensive outburst from both teams starting the next half-inning with the bottom part of the Bristol batting order.

Dee hit Billy Sullivan (Southern Connecticut) with a pitch before a sacrifice bunt from Goodman moved Sullivan into scoring position and got Dee removed from the game. 

Chris Gallagher (Wright State) relieved Dee on the mound and served up a first-pitch, RBI single to Ian Battipaglia (Franklin Pierce). 

Peyton reached base on a sharply hit ball that took a tough bounce into left field before Fote delivered with his second and third runs batted in of the ballgame with a double. Fote came around to score two batters later after a second error in the inning allowed Skye Selinsky (Columbia) to reach base.

A trio of singles in the bottom of the seventh helped push the Mainers second run across home plate. Matt Miceli (Stony Brook) opened the inning with a base knock before Hewett singled on a ball that brought Miceli to third base.

Logan Poteet (Vanderbilt) then drove in Miceli on a hit-and-run attempt with the third single of the inning. Poteet’s hit-and-run single proved effective as it also put Hewett on third base, where he advanced to home plate from after a Jenkins’ groundout.

With the deficit at just two, the green and yellow turned the ball over to Zack Given (UMass Amherst). In similar fashion to Gallagher’s first pitch, Given’s first offering out of the bullpen was taken to the outfield by Joey Rios (Central Connecticut State). 

Sullivan followed Rios with a one-pitch single of his own before Goodman drove home Rios with the third straight single. Goodman was thrown out trying to get to second base on the throw back to the infield, which also allowed Sullivan to reach third base.

For the second straight inning, Battipaglia drove in a run with a single before turning the lineup over for Peyton and Fote to work walks that loaded the bases. Given struck out Gavin Noriega (Bryant) for out number two, but the bats for the Blues had some two-out magic up their sleeves.

Selinsky singled to drive home two runs before Griffin Arnone (Northwestern) delivered the final blow of the seven-run eighth inning in the way of a three-run home run over the right field fence. 

Trailing by nine, the Moose did not quit at the plate as Eisert and Nick Roselli (Binghamton) worked back-to-back walks to jumpstart the home portion of the eighth inning. After Devin Russell (Maryland) went down on strikes for out number one, Miceli delivered his second single in as many innings to load the bases.

A passed ball allowed Eisert to score before Matt Polk (Vanderbilt) drove in Roselli with a sacrifice fly to center field.

The Mainers put two more runners across in the ninth inning as Poteet and Jenkins worked back-to-back walks before a ball hit by Bade found its way into the outfield for Simmi Whitehill (Maryland), who pinch ran for Poteet) to touch home plate. 

A wild pitch on strike three to Levi McAllister (Albany) allowed Jenkins to score the seventh and final run for the Mainers, who ultimately fell 12-7 at Goodall Park.

The series shifts to Muzzy Field tomorrow at 5 p.m. with the Mainers needing a win to keep their season alive. 

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.