5-run 5th inning helps Swamp Bats pull away from Muskrats
July 1, 2016 - New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL)
Keene Swamp Bats News Release
LACONIA - The Swamp Bats have yet to lose a game in which they score first. That held true again on Thursday, as Keene notched an 11-8 win over the Winnipesaukee Muskrats in front of 196 fans at Robbie Mills Park in Laconia.
In their fifth road game in the last seven days, the Swamp Bats picked up their fifth win in seven games, advancing to 12-6 overall, including an impressive 7-3 in games away from Alumni Field.
The Swamp Bats took a 2-0 lead in the top of the 1st inning off of RBI singles by left fielder Parker Sniatynski (Jr., St. Louis) and DH Jamal Wade (Jr., Maryland). It was the only base hits of the evening for both Wade and Sniatynski, but they each finished with a run scored.
Winnipesaukee (9-9) answered in the bottom of the 1st with three runs off three hits and an error by Keene centerfielder Brandt Stallings (So., Georgia Tech). The three Muskrat runs came from an RBI single by first baseman Michael Rothmund (So., Illinois-Springfield), a groundout sacrifice by center fielder Ryan Shinn (So., Florida Gulf Coast) and a walk by catcher Michael Alescio (Jr., Seton Hall) with the bases loaded. The Muskrats had a 3-2 lead at the end of one.
The Swamp Bats answered right back in the top of the 2nd with an RBI-double from shortstop Jordan Howard (Jr., Lee), tying the game at three runs each after two innings.
After reaching 2nd on the double, Howard was pulled from the game after showing signs of fatigue, and Garrett Christman (Jr., Butler) replaced him for the rest of the evening.
Keene regained the lead in the top of the 4th after catcher Evan McFarland (Sr., Lock Haven) reached on a lead-off hit-by-pitch and was brought home on a sac fly to right field by Stallings. With the bases loaded and only one out, a wild pitch by Muskrats reliever Neil Abbatiello (So., Wagner) scored Lucas Luopa (Sr., Eckerd) from 3rd, giving Keene a 5-3 lead halfway through the 4th.
The lead changed hands five different times between the Muskrats and Swamp Bats.
The biggest hit of the game for Winnipesaukee came in the bottom of the 4th when DH Ryan Stekl (Jr., Canisius) hit a three-run bomb to right field to give the Muskrats a 6-5 lead.
Stekl finished the game going 2-for-4 with three runs scored and three RBIs.
Keene would retake the lead for good in the top of the 5th inning. After right fielder Jack Morock (So., Iowa Western CC) led off with a single to left field, McFarland reached 2nd base off an error by Muskrats shortstop Anthony Maselli (Jr., Boston College), allowing Morock to score.
McFarland finished the game going 1-for-4 with three runs scored, while Morock went 1-for-3 with one run.
After McFarland scored Morock, Luopa hit an RBI-double to center to score McFarland, giving the Swamp Bats a 7-6 lead. Iero scored Luopa in the next at-bat with an RBI single to center, making it 8-6. Stallings sent Iero home with a two-run homer to left center, making it 10-6 Swamp Bats halfway through the 5th.
Winnipesaukee reliever George Lamb (Jr., U of Rio Grande) gave up three of Keene's five runs in the 5th, with only one of them being earned. Lamb still took the loss on the mound for the Muskrats, tossing 2.1 innings and yielding three hits along with one walk.
Swamp Bats reliever Carmen Giampetruzzi (Jr., Boston College) came in to relieve Keene's starter Ryan Avidano (Jr., Georgia) in the bottom of the 5th. Giampetruzzi earned his first win of the season on the mound, tossing two scoreless innings and fanning two batters.
Avidano finished with four strikeouts and four walks in four innings of work in his fourth start of the season, giving five earned runs and nine hits.
Keene added an insurance run in the top of the 7th when Luopa hit a single-shot home run over the left field wall to give the Swamp Bats an 11-6 lead. It was Luopa's second homer of the season, and he finished the game going 2-for-4 with three runs scored and two RBIs.
The Muskrats mounted a small rally in the bottom of the 8th. Shinn came through with an RBI double to left center, and he was brought home by a sac fly to left field by third baseman James Garnett (Sr., Plymouth State). It was 11-8 Swamp Bats after eight.
Garnett finished his first game in a Muskrat uniform going 2-for-4 with an RBI.
Winnipesaukee reliever Cain Spangler (Sr., Florida International) struck out the side in the top of the 9th and left fielder Anthony Godino (Jr., Wagner) got on with a two-out double, but Keene closer and NECBL Pitcher of the Week Michael LaBeau (Sr., Castleton St.) earned his seventh save of the year. LaBeau retired the Muskrats after facing four batters, giving up only one hit and tallying a strikeout.
LaBeau's seven saves are the most among all pitchers in the league.
Keene retruns home Friday to face the Sanford Mainers for the third time this season. First pitch from Alumni Field is scheduled for 6:30. The game can be heard on the NECBL Broadcast Network, FM 104.1 and AM 1220 ESPN Keene.
New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from July 1, 2016
- Mountaineers and Pilgrims Rained Out - Vermont Mountaineers
- SteepleCats Fall in Extras - North Adams SteepleCats
- 5-run 5th inning helps Swamp Bats pull away from Muskrats - Keene Swamp Bats
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