Keene powers past Danbury 8-7 behind four home runs
July 26, 2014 - New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL)
Keene Swamp Bats News Release
KEENE, N.H. - Zach Lauricella (St. John's) broke out of his 1-33 slump in a big way Saturday night as he went 2-4 with two home runs and five RBI's to lead the Keene Swamp Bats to an 8-7 victory over the Danbury Westerners at Alumni Field.
A wild pitch in the bottom half of the sixth inning that allowed Patrick McGrath (Washington State) to score the go ahead run proved to be the difference in the ballgame.
The Westerners grabbed an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning when an error by McGrath allowed Logan Pearson (Missouri) to score on the fielder's choice. Danbury added another run to the board on an RBI single by Ryan Donovan (Hofstra) plating Aaron Huesman (Dayton).
The Swamp Bats came back to score two runs of their own in the bottom of the second inning when the struggling Lauricella hit a two-run home run to centerfield, scoring Darick Hall (Cochise) to tie the game up 2-2.
Connor Fitzsimons (Central Connecticut State) hit a solo home run to centerfield to start the bottom of the third inning to give the Swamp Bats a 3-2 lead. Lauricella then followed that up with his second home run of the game - a three run shot to extend Keene's lead to 6-2.
"It feels great," said Lauricella about breaking out of his slump. "This game is about a lot of ups and downs and its how you perservere through it. It was tough for me to stay in the struggle you know and I finally got out of it tonight."
Danbury would not go quietly however as AJ Ryan (Dayton) led off the top of the fourth inning with a solo home run off of the scoreboard to cut Keene's lead in half to 6-3.
The Swamp Bats would get the run back however as Taylor Perez (St. Leo) would lead off the bottom half of the fourth inning with a solo home run to centerfield extending Keene's lead back to four.
The Swamp Bats hit a total of four home runs for the game.
The Westerners would respond with three runs of their own in the top of the fifth inning to cut the Swamp Bats lead down to one. Pearson hit a one out RBI double scoring Tyler Sanchez (St. John's) and Vimael Machin (Virginia Commonwealth) to cut the deficit to 7-5 Keene. Pearson then scored on an RBI single by Ryan to make it just 7-6 Swamp Bats.
That was it for Swamp Bats' starter Connor Jones (Virginia) who struggled through five innings of work. He was charged with six runs (four earned) on five hits, walked three and struck out six on 90 pitches. He received a no-decision.
The Swamp Bats lost the lead in the top of the sixth inning when Hector Gutierrez (Michigan) scored on an RBI single by Zach Lavy (Missouri) to tie the game up at seven.
With the win, the Swamp Bats improve to 16-18 on the season and are now tied for the final playoff spot in the NECBL North Division. Danbury falls to 11-27 on the season with the loss.
The Swamp Bats travel to Mystic tomorrow night to take on the Schooners for a 6:05 scheduled first pitch.
The next two Swamp Bat home games are make-up games against the North Adams SteepleCats on Monday and will resume their game against the Ocean State Waves on Thursday. Thursday night's game against Ocean State is fan appreciation night and admission is free. Both make up games start at 6:30.
New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from July 26, 2014
- Sox blank Mountaineers - Vermont Mountaineers
- Keene powers past Danbury 8-7 behind four home runs - Keene Swamp Bats
- Gulls Drop Tough Game to Vermont, 8-3, Play Under Protest - Newport Gulls
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