Offense Explodes for 24 Runs as Vermont Sweeps Keene in Doubleheader

July 1, 2023 - New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL)
Vermont Mountaineers News Release


MONTPELIER, Vt. - The Vermont Mountaineers earned a doubleheader sweep over the Keene Swamp Bats on Saturday night from Montpelier Recreation Field. The Mountaineers took game one by a score of 12-2, and took game two by a score of 12-1.

The Mountaineers regained first place in the North Division with the two wins, improving to 15-6-1 on the season. The Swamp Bats drop to 6-15.

Santino Rosso (Hofstra) had himself a day at the plate. He picked up four hits and drove in eight runs in two games, including a grand slam in game one. Aidan Tucker (Tufts) picked up his third victory of the summer to dominate in game one.

Game One: Vermont 12, Keene 2

Vermont took an early 3-0 lead in the first inning. TJ Williams (Notre Dame) led off the game with a walk. He stole second, and moved to third on a single to shallow center field by Luke Cantwell (Pittsburgh). A sacrifice fly by George Rosales (Fairleigh Dickinson) plated Williams. Cantwell scored the second run on a double to left center field by Rosso. Marshall Toole (Wofford) singled to left field to advance Rosso to third and then stole second himself. Rosso came across to make it 3-0 on a ground out by Aaron Whitley (Rochester).

Tucker retired the first six batters he faced in the first two innings.

The Mountaineers added to their lead in the second. Jack Renwick (Wofford) singled with one out. He advanced all the way to third on a wild pitch and scored on a double by Williams to make it 4-0. Williams stole third, and then two straight walks by Keene starter Francisco Sanchez loaded the bases. Williams scored to make it 5-0 in favor of the home team on a sacrifice fly by Rosso. Keene reliever Matthew Rowe got a flyout to center to escape trouble.

Keene got on the board in the top of the third. A lead off home run by Greg Bozzo made it 5-1. The next batter Anthony Livermore singled to left field and moved to second on a ground out. Tucker stranded him in scoring position with a line out to shortstop and a ground out to first.

Tucker gave up a leadoff single in the fourth. His defense helped him get out of the frame with a flyout and an inning ending double play to keep Vermont's 5-1 lead.

The Mountaineers offense added another run in the home half of the fourth. Williams walked and then stole second. He came around to score as Cantwell reached on an error as the ball went right through the shortstops legs. A hit batter put two on with no outs. James Quinlivan got a double play on the first batter he faced. A ground out to end the inning got Keene out of the game.

After a quick inning for Tucker in the fifth, Vermont's offense put two runners on the corners to start the bottom of the fifth. Whitley beat out an infield single and advanced to third on a single by Nate Stocum (Western Carolina). Whitley made it 7-1 as he scored on a ground out by Renwick, as Stocum moved to second on the play. A bloop single to right center field by Williams made it 8-1. The game was blown open with two outs. Rosso capped off the scoring in the inning with a grand slam to right field that was 100 MPH off the bat, making it 12-1.

Keene got a run in the sixth on an RBI single by Jake Mummau that scored Evan Goforth from second.

Christopher Auclair (D'Youville) pitched the seventh to close out the game. Tucker earned his third win of the summer going six innings, giving up two runs on five hits while striking out three hitters. Sanchez suffered the loss for the Swamp Bats, going just 1.1 innings and giving up five runs on five hits and three walks.

Game Two; Vermont 12, Keene 1

Game two had a similar start to game one. Max Gitlin (Clark) started and ended the opening inning with a pair of strikeouts, setting down Keene in order.

Vermont's offense immediately had an impact in the home half of the first. Williams reached on a bunt single, Cantwell was hit with a pitch, and then a advanced the runners. Rosso's hot day at the plate continued, as he hit a hard grounder just inside the first base bag, scoring both runners and giving Vermont a 2-0 lead. Rosso moved to third after the left fielder dropped a fly ball hit by Toole. Toole reached second on the play. A one out walk loaded the bases. Heads up baserunning by Rosso scored the third run for Vermont. Keene's catcher's throw back to Spencer Dessart got by the pitcher, allowing Rosso to score easily. Evan Fox(Stony Brook) drove in two runs with two outs to give Vermont a 5-0 lead with an infield single.

After a scoreless second inning by both teams, Keene scored their first run of the contest. A pair of back-to-back walks were followed by an RBI single to center field by Livermore to make it 5-1. Gitlin got a strikeout and a ground out to third baseman Jace Jeremiah (St. Johns) stranding two runners in scoring position.

The Mountaineers tacked on six more runs in the fourth. Three walks with one out loaded the bases. Keene reliever Cole Stallings came in as the third pitcher and hit Nathan Waugh (Cornell) with the first pitch he threw. Vermont played station-to-station with Fox hitting a single through the right side, scoring Toole. Williams knocked in two more runs to make it 9-1 with a single to left field. Stallings got a strikeout for the second out, but his defense committed their fifth error of the game on a grounder by Brandon Butterworth (NC State), allowing two more runs to cross the plate. Toole drove in another run as he reached on an error, scoring Butterworth.

Vermont's lead held on for the sweep. Colton Book (Stony Brook) pitched two scoreless innings in relief, striking out two batters and earned the win. Max Moss (Clark) and Max Parker (Le Moyne) closed out the sixth and seventh innings to complete the sweep.

Vermont has a day off on Sunday with heavy rain in the forecast in Holyoke, Massachusetts as the game against the Valley Blue Sox has been postponed. The Mountaineers return to action on Monday, July 3rd in Hartford, Vermont. First pitch for game three of the Governor's Cup Series with the Upper Valley Nighthawks is set for 6 p.m. at the Maxfield Sports Complex. You can follow all the action on the NECBL Broadcast Network here.

Photo credit: Cierra Loomis, Digital Media/Photography Director

For continuing coverage of the Vermont Mountaineers, bookmark thevermontmountaineers.com and follow the Mountaineers on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and on TikTok.



New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from July 1, 2023


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