After all these years, Sanford baseball fans still love their Mainers
Brendan Sencaj and Nater Wachter, center, celebrate with teammates after the Sanford Mainers defeat Danbury 3-1 in Game 1 of the NECBL championship series on Sunday in Sanford. (Derek Davis/Staff Photographer) Purchase this image
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SANFORD — Standing in the top corner of the grandstand of Goodall Park, tears begin to well up in Amber Sanchez’s eyes.
The memories of her grandmother, Elizabeth Cardona, begin to take over. Cardona, a native of New Jersey and a longtime Springvale resident, died in January at age 78. She had many passions in her life, but one of the strongest was watching the Sanford Mainers play at Goodall Park.
Cardona, who was a season-ticket holder for the Mainers, a summer collegiate baseball team that has called Sanford home since 2002, became known as “The Cowbell Lady” for her routine use of the noisemaker during games.
“Any time a Mainer player hit a homer or did something, you heard that cowbell in the stands,” Sanchez said.
Sanchez, 35, now attends Sanford games with her children and family members. What started with Cardona has become a group of at least a half-dozen family members.
“When I started here back in 2011, it was just me and my grandmother,” Sanchez said. “Now it’s a tradition.”
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Sanchez’s story is just one of many for fans who have consistently come to Goodall over the past 25 summers. The team, and park tucked away at the bottom of Roberts Street — where Babe Ruth famously hit a home run during an exhibition barnstorming tour in 1919 — continues to be a point of pride in the city.
“Any sport, any team, you hear the cliché that (fans) bleed this color or that color,” said Jacob Ouellette, who worked his way from volunteer in 2005, to intern and chairman of the Mainers’ board of directors. “But what I love, what this team has done to the greater Sanford community, is the fact that it’s a hometown team, something that people can get behind, rally around and be supportive of.”
The Sanford Mainers are part of the New England Collegiate Baseball League, which is a summer league for college players with aspirations of playing professionally. At last a dozen MLB scouts were in attendance when Sanford hosted the NEBCL All-Star Game last month.
The Mainers have 11 alumni who reached the major leagues, most notably outfielder Adam Duval and infielder Joey Wendle.
The Mainers’ main objective is player development, but over the years Sanford has enjoyed success. The Mainers are playing in the NECBL championship series this week. It is their second trip to the final in three seasons. Sanford won the title in 2004 and 2008.
Sanford leads the championship series against the Danbury Westerners, 1-0. Game 2 was postponed Tuesday night and will be made up at 6:35 p.m. Wednesday in Danbury, Connecticut. Game 3, if necessary, would be at 6:35 p.m. Wednesday in Sanford.
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The strong relationship between the community and team isn’t only felt by the fans, but also the players.
“I remember coming here as a little kid, these guys looked like they were seven feet tall. It was just the best experience in the world,” said Mainers left-handed pitcher TJ Curley, a native Sanford native who plays at Stonehill College. “Now, when I get to see those kids look up and ask for autographs, ask for a ball, you’ve got to love it. I see myself in them.”
Frank and Roxanne Bumford of Lebanon watch the Sanford Mainers play Danbury in Game 1 of the NECBL championship series on Sunday in Sanford. (Derek Davis/Staff Photographer) Purchase this image
It’s an experience that keeps fans like Frank and Roxanne Bumford, both 71, of Lebanon coming back. The couple, celebrating their 50th anniversary this year, are heavily invested in baseball and have umpired Little League games over the years, including when Curley was a youngster.
“When you come to games here, you see a lot of your neighbors, friends and people you know in the stands here,” Frank said. “Some of the kids come back year to year, you feel like you get to know them, and then they move on. Hopefully they get to the majors and you get to say, ‘Hey, I know that guy.'”
For Roxanne, the joy comes from seeing what the players do when they go back to their college teams.
“I pour over these kids’ (stats),” Roxanne said. “I drive (Frank) crazy.”
Several local families have hosted teams over the years, in some cases for more than a decade.
“(Part of the success is) through sponsors and host families. It’s a network of all those people. It’s symbiotic,” said Mainers general manager Aaron Izaryk, who has 24 years of experience with the team as a player, head coach and now in the front office. “They do a good job for us, our guys do a good job in the community for them and make it all work. That is what this league is and what I think it can be, the mutual investment of time.”
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Tagged: Sanford Mainers
Dave Dyer is in his second stint with the Kennebec Journal/Morning Sentinel. Dave was previously with the company from 2012-2015 and returned in late 2016. He spent most of 2016 doing freelance sports. More by Dave Dyer
