Scarborough’s Mason Porter accepts congratulations from Zak Sanders after stealing home to give the Red Storm a 2-0 lead in the third inning Friday against Sanford at Goodall Park. Steve Craig photo
SANFORD — Call them the Running Red Storm.
Using what first baseman Mason Porter called a “hyper-aggressive” approach to running the bases, Scarborough stole seven bases – including a steal of home by Porter – in a 4-0 win against host Sanford on Friday afternoon at Goodall Park.
“We take a lot of pride in our base running,” Porter said. “One of our big values for our team is putting pressure on the other team’s pitching and defense in the form of base running.”
Scarborough, first in the Class A South Heal point standings, improved to 4-0.
Sophomore right-hander Erik Swenson kept Sanford (4-2) in check through five innings, mixing an effective curve with a lively fastball that naturally tailed to the outside corner against right-handed hitters. Swenson allowed five hits and no runs in 5 2/3 innings. He struck out nine.
Sanford, which entered the game ranked third in Class A South, loaded the bases with two outs in the sixth on singles from Scott Long and Beckett Barlow (3 for 3) and a walk by Alex Sevigny. Zak Sanders relieved Swenson and got out of the jam with a strikeout, then worked a 1-2-3 seventh for the save.
Sanford struck out 11 times. The Spartans also had a batter called out for interfering with the catcher’s throw on a stolen-base attempt and a player ejected for quietly questioning an umpire’s strike call.
“There were a few things that didn’t go our way today,” said Sanford Coach Kyle Bernier, who was agitated by the home plate umpire’s generous strike zone and the interference call. But Bernier added that Sanford didn’t make enough contact offensively to overcome the obstacles.
“More than half your outs are coming by way of strikeouts,” Bernier said. “You’re not making the other team do anything. The easiest way to go ahead and create things is just by putting the ball in play.”
Sanford got caught in the Scarborough running game in the third inning because Scarborough’s first two hitters put the ball in play and the Spartans were unable to make difficult infield plays.
Speedy Jason Liponis rapped a grounder to third and beat the throw, which was wild and up the line, allowing Liponis to advance to second. Then Porter hit a one-hop shot that the third baseman failed to knock down. Porter promptly stole second to put two runners in scoring position.
Hard throwing Sanford starter Ben Gill struck out the next batter, but Liponis scored on a groundout by Lewis Moynihan, and Owen Fellows drew a walk, putting runners at the corners.
Fellows took off for second, and when freshman catcher Matt Hebert tried to throw him out, Porter raced home and dove in head-first to beat the throw.
Fellows scored on a single by Tyler Archambault.
“One inning. If we make the plays defensively, we’re out of that inning in 12 pitches without a run,” Bernier said.
Scarborough No. 9 hitter Matthew Fallona (2 for 3) added the fourth run when he alertly scored from third on a wild pitch that only got a few feet away from Hebert.
“We’re just trying to put pressure on the other team,” said Scarborough Coach Wes Ridlon. “To me, it’s really bout smart base running, anticipation, seeing the ball in the dirt and trying to take the extra base.”
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