The Danbury Westerners forced a decisive third game in the NECBL championship series with an 8‑7 walk‑off victory over the Sanford Mainers on Tuesday night. The win, achieved at Goodall Park in Sanford, Maine, kept the title chase alive and set up a highly anticipated ESPN+ broadcast on Wednesday.
Key Moments Define the Game
Garrett McGovern, a Brookfield native and Danbury catcher, delivered a clutch homer in the bottom of the ninth to complete the comeback. Earlier, Ronan Donohue sparked the offense with a sacrifice fly that scored his twin brother Gavin Donohue in the sixth inning, while Ryan Preisano’s two‑run single in the ninth added crucial insurance runs.
Sanford built an early lead thanks to Brennan Staubley’s two‑run double in the seventh, which helped the Mainers surge to a 7‑2 advantage. The Westerners chipped away throughout the game, with Charlie Hale limiting damage in the sixth before shutting down the opposition for the first five innings.
Local ties peppered the contest, from Fairfield native Hayden Lee’s two‑scoreless‑inning effort in Game 2 to UConn’s Nater Wachter’s RBI single that opened scoring for Sanford. The Donohue brothers, seniors at Sacred Heart University, and other regional standouts such as Garrett Snyder, Chase DePalma, and Jose Vasquez added depth to the rosters.
The series will continue Wednesday night on ESPN+, where fans can watch the next showdown at Goodall Park. With both teams tied 1‑1, the upcoming game promises another chapter of high‑stakes, locally rooted baseball.