SANFORD ”“ Throwing what he wanted to, when he wanted to, Sanford righthander A.J. Bazdanes handcuffed Old Orchard Beach hitters for 7.1 innings, which helped the Mainers take a 4-2 win from the Raging Tide, before 633 Goodall Park patrons, Friday.
Bazdanes, a junior at UMaine, scattered four hits and a walk, while working his full repertoire of pitches.
“I was throwing everything for strikes,” said Bazdanes (2-0). “They were jumping on pitches, but luckily I located my fastball, my curveball, my cutter, and my change up well, tonight. I kept everybody off balance.”
And he dictated the tempo, too.
“I know for me,” said OOB catcher Tim Quinn, “I had just stepped in the (batter’s) box and he was already in his windup. We have to keep him off balance, and we didn’t do a good job of that.”
Bazdanes’ mates backed him up with just enough run support, as they touched OOB starter G.C. Yerry (1-1) for three runs through the first five frames.
Normally a reliever, Yerry was making his first start after seven trips out of the bullpen.
Sanford scraped up a run in the bottom of the first, after Brett Mollenhauer beat out an infield hit, and eventually scored from third on Nick LaCroix’s sacrifice fly.
The Mainers added two more runs in the fifth, when Aaron Cohen singled, then legged it home on John Sulzicki’s triple.
Sulzicki then was singled in by Mollenhauer.
By then, Bazdanes was deep in his groove.
He no-hit the Tide through the first five innings, having allowed just one runner, that being Joel Stubbs, who walked in the second.
“That’s what happens when you throw four pitches for strikes,” said Bazdanes. “Plus the defense behind me has been absolutely phenomenal. If I didn’t have good defense behind me, I would have given up six hits tonight.”
Bazdanes lost his no-hit bid with with one out in the sixth, when Billy Bereszniewicz singled on a sharp grounder deep into the hole at short.
“I knew it was coming,” he said. “I didn’t think I was going to keep it, so I was just trying to throw strikes.”
The Tide reached Bazdanes for two runs in the eighth, cutting the margin to 3-2.
Sanford added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth, while closer Tyler Mizenko buttoned down the win in the ninth.
CHIN MUSIC: The Tide lost a key member for the remainder of the season when infielder Tom Verdi suffered a fractured hand in Thursday’s 3-0 win at North Shore. Verdi’s roster spot will be taken by newly signed Robbie Trask of UMaine and a former Thornton Academy standout. Trask could make his OOB debut tonight (5:30 p.m.), when the Tide will host the Newport Gulls. Louis Concato (0-1, 6.40) will get the start.
With the win, the Mainers slipped back into the North Division lead, percentage points ahead of the North Shore Navigators, whom they’ll host tonight (6:30 p.m.). Tommy Lawrence (0-1, 2.08) is slated to start for the Mainers.
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