Bay Sox spoil Swamp Bats trophy celebration, defeating Keene 5-2
June 9, 2012 - New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL)
Keene Swamp Bats News Release
Keene, N.H. - On a night where the Swamp Bats celebrated their 2011 championship season with a trophy celebration and a fireworks show, it was the New Bedford Bay Sox celebrating on the field with a 5-2 win over Keene.
In front of a crowd of 2,596, the Swamp Bats could not muster much offense against the Bay Sox. New Bedford starting pitcher Frank Vilacha (Dartmouth, Mass.) went 8 strong innings, giving up only one earned run while striking out four. Vilacha had command of his pitches, only walking one Swamp Bat on the evening.
Luke Crumley (Cleveland, Ga.) got the start for Keene, giving up two earned runs in six innings of work. Crumley battled back and forth with Vilacha in a pitchers' duel until giving up a solo home run in the sixth inning to Andy Lalli (Lakeville, Mass.) Crumley left the after the sixth the pitcher of record on the losing side.
New Bedford got the scoring started tonight when second baseman Evan King (Lancaster, Penn.) knocked a solo home run to right-center field in the top of the third. King, who had not homered in 174 at-bats for Millersville University this past collegiate season, knocked this homer onto the roof of the barn in right field.
Keene would answer in the bottom of the fifth when the hometown hero from the night before, Brett Barrett (Keene, N.H.) went yard on a bomb over the left-center fence. It was Barrett's first homer of the year, and gave him the team lead in RBI's with three.
After Crumley gave up the home run to Lalli in the top of the sixth, David Mahoney (Colechester, Conn.) entered the game. After striking out the first batter he faced, Mahoney, he allowed the next two to reach base before King delivered an RBI single, which plated a second runner on a throwing error from Austin Wheeler (Lilburn, Ga.).
The Bay Sox would add another run in the top of the ninth on an RBI single from Carl Anderson (Sudbury, Mass.). From there, Vilacha would exit the game and allow Bay Sox closer Samuel Dodge (Rumford, R.I.) to enter in a non-save situation.
Keene would pose a threat in the bottom of the ninth again, as Fran Whitten (Westboro, Mass.) knocked a solo home run of the left field fence to make it a 5-2 game. But after Dylan De La Cruz (East Lyme, Conn.) singled and stole second with two outs, Wheeler would strike out for the fourth time, ending the game.
With the win, the Bay Sox improve to 1-0 on the season, while the Swamp Bats fall to 1-1.
The Swamp Bats next game is Sunday night, 6:30 PM, when they take on the Vermont Mountaineers in Montpelier, Vt.
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New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from June 9, 2012
- Vermont Picks Up First Win Of Season In Home Opener - Vermont Mountaineers
- Bay Sox spoil Swamp Bats trophy celebration, defeating Keene 5-2 - Keene Swamp Bats
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