July 11, 2011

View Nashua Telegraph story | Sanborn Bio

Mark Sanborn is such a towering presence at 6-foot-6, 235 pounds, it’s hard to imagine him not being a cleanup hitter.

“There he is, the Big Monster,” joked Nashua Silver Knights manager Mike Chambers.

Sanborn batted seventh in the UMass Lowell lineup this past spring, but he’s a big bopper in the No. 4 hole for Nashua, leading the Futures Collegiate Baseball League in RBIs with 18 going into Saturday’s game at Holman Stadium against the Seacoast Mavericks.

“Down in Lowell, I saw a lot of fastballs, but with my height I saw some curve balls too,” Sanborn said. “Coming up here, you’ll see off-speed an entire at bat. You might see one or two fastballs a game that you can handle or can hit. So you really have to learn how to hit that curve ball or off-speed pitches.”

And learn he has. When Chambers learned UMass Lowell had requested that Sanborn play here for the summer his eyes lit up. He coached against the big first baseman during the spring college season.

“You could tell he was a clutch hitter,” Chambers said. “It takes a mentality that you’re going to have to pick your pitch and know the situation.

“And he’s really serious about baseball. This is summer ball, it’s kind of laid back, but when he takes the field it’s all business, and you can tell. With him, it’s about winning. He wants to win badly.”

“I’m just a competitor, you know?” said Sanborn, who played basketball and baseball at Hopkinton High School before ending up at UML to study accounting. “It’s summer ball, it is more laid back than the regular college season, but every time out here I’m just trying to compete and win the game.

“That’s what it’s all about, getting wins.”

How do you draw the line?

“If you have a bad game, you have to forget about it,” Sanborn said. “You have to keep a straight mind, even keel, just go out there and do the best you can and whatever happens, happens.”

He was a .300 hitter even for the River Hawks and has stayed consistent with the Silver Knights, batting .282 heading into Saturday’s game. But he’s doubled his power numbers from the spring with four homers already, including a grand slam in a big home win over Martha’s Vineyard on Thursday. That may be the benefit of the cleanup spot.

“And the fact we’re getting guys on base in front of him,” Chambers said. “That really has him bearing down.”

All this has him hoping to move up in the River Hawks batting order next spring.

“Hopefully I’ll hit in the four hole, see more RBI opportunities,” he said. “I’m hoping to lead the league in homers and RBIs and carry that over next year and have a big role (in Lowell).”

Well, his role couldn’t get any better for the Silver Knights than it is now.

“I didn’t expect to hit cleanup when I came here,” he said. “But when I saw my name in the fourth spot before the first game, I was pumped. I hadn’t done it since high school. It’s an opportunity I just want to take by the horns and go with it and work as hard as I can.”