Swamp Bats Best by North Adams 6-5
June 11, 2014 - New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL)
Keene Swamp Bats News Release
KEENE, N.H. - For the second night in a row, the Keene Swamp Bats' comeback attempt came up short as they fell 6-5 to the North Adams SteepleCats on a damp and chilly night at Alumni Field.
The Swamp Bats had the tying run in scoring position at second base and the potential winning run on first with nobody out in the bottom of the ninth but they were unable to come around to score.
Swamp Bats third baseman Patrick McGrath (Washington State) tried to atone for his two errors in the ballgame as he gave it a ride to right center field with two outs in the ninth but Kyle Richardson (Notre Dame) was able to make the catch a couple of feet in front of the fence for the final out of the ballgame.
Down 6-3 heading into the bottom of the eighth inning, Keene was able to cut the deficit to a single run when Aubrey McCarty (Vanderbilt) singled in Taylor Perez (St. Leo University) who scored on an error by left fielder Luke Maglich (South Florida) who overran the ball. Bret Dennis (St. John's) then singled to left driving in McCarty to make it 6-5.
Christian Torres (Notre Dame) came into the game in the eighth inning for Coley Burns (Grand Canyon University) who only lasted a third of an inning giving up two runs on three hits. After a dicey ninth inning, Torres was able to close the door to record the five out save.
The Swamp Bats took the lead early scoring two runs in the top of the first after they loaded the bases with nobody out. Bret Dennis (St. John's) scored the first run of the ballgame on a passed ball by Ramon Valdez. Ryan Summers (Louisville) then scored on a ground out by Conner Simonetti (Kent State) to give the Swamp Bats the early 2-0 lead.
The SteepleCats tied it up in the top of the third inning however as Matthew Schmidt (Chicago State) broke up the modest perfect game bid with a one out single to left. He then scored on an RBI double by Vladimir Gomez (Arkansas Pine Bluff) who advanced to third on the throw from Zach Lauricella (St. John's). Gomez then scored on a sacrifice fly by Todd Juliano (Flagler College) to tie the score at two.
Keene took the lead right back in the bottom half of the inning as Ryan Summers led off the Swamp Bats third with a home run to left center field to make it 3-2.
Swamp Bats starter Matt Blandino (Central Connecticut State), making his second start of the season lasted five innings giving up two runs, one earned, on four hits with no walks and four strike outs, throwing 77 pitches. He was saddled with a no-decision.
Blandino got out of a runners on first and third with one out jam in the fifth inning when he got Gomez to ground into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning. That ended the night for Blandino.
The Swamp Bats however were able to chase North Adams starter Shaefer Shepard (Catawba College) from the game after just three innings pitched. Shepard gave up three runs, two earned, with three walks, three strike outs on 67 pitches.
That turned out to be good news for the SteepleCats as Jonathan Mulford (Adelphi) was able to shut down the Swamp Bats in his four innings of relief where he gave up no runs on three hits with one strike out. Mulford was credited the win.
Darrick Hall (Cochise College) came into pitch in the sixth inning making his NECBL pitching debut and struggled mightily. Hall lasted only one plus inning giving up four runs, three earned on three hits, with one walk and one strike out. He was charged with the loss.
North Adams scored three times in the top of the sixth to take a 5-3 lead and never looked back. Juliano led off the inning with a solo shot to left center to tie it up at three and then Valdez singled to right scoring JC Cardenas (Barry University) to give North Adams their first and only lead of the ballgame.
The Swamp Bats look to end their two game losing skid tomorrow night against the Valley Blue Sox at 6:30 at Alumni Field.
• Discuss this story on the New England Collegiate Baseball League message board...
New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from June 11, 2014
- Mountaineers Bats Cold in 6-2 Setback - Vermont Mountaineers
- Swamp Bats Best by North Adams 6-5 - Keene Swamp Bats
- Gulls Pitching Strikes out 18 in 6-3 Win over Bay Sox - Newport Gulls
- Blue Sox Snap Skid, Top Mountaineers 6-2 - Valley Blue Sox
- Danbury Westerners Set 20th Anniversary Celebration - Danbury Westerners
- Mainers use timely hitting and solid pitching to defeat Swamp Bats - Sanford Mainers
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
