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Vermont Uses Long Ball To Cruise Past Keene

July 16, 2019 - New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL)
Vermont Mountaineers News Release


KEENE, N.H. - The Vermont Mountaineers earned a 10-2 victory over the Keene Swamp Bats on Tuesday night in New England Collegiate Baseball League action from Alumni Field.

The Mountaineers had four home runs by four different players while starting pitcher Ryan Murphy (Wappingers Falls, N.Y. / Le Moyne College) had a dominant start, to get his fourth win of the season. Vermont improves to 19-14 while Keene falls to 18-13. The season series is tied at two with the teams wrapping up their series in the regular season finale on Thursday, Aug. 1 in Keene, N.H. They both sit a game out of first place, with the Swamp Bats holding an edge in the league standings with a .576 winning percentage to Vermont's .536 percentage.

After a scoreless first inning, it was Vermont that struck first in the top of the second frame and did not look back.

A walk and a single by Cam Climo (Billerica, Mass. / University of Massachusetts Lowell) and Curtis Robison (Dillsburg, Pa. / Penn State University), respectively, started the inning. A lineout to the shortstop on the following batter looked to end the threat, as Keene was able to get a double play allowing Robison to go to third. However, Corey DiLoreto (Reading, Mass. / Northeastern University) came up with the big two-out double, plating Robison, giving Vermont a 1-0 lead.

Murphy picked up where he left off in the opening frame. After a leadoff single and an error put a runner on second in the first inning, Vermont got an inning ending double play and Murphy retired the next nine batters he faced.

Vermont put the pressure on in the fourth inning with a leadoff single by Climo and a double by Robison putting runners in scoring position with no outs. Climo scored on a sacrifice fly to center by Connor Charping (Trenton, Mich. / Western Michigan University). Diloreto put runners on the corners with a single to center. However, a fly out to right and a play at the plate ended the inning, but Vermont led 2-0.

The Mountaineers added one more in the fifth for a 3-0 lead. Ciaran Devenney (Manalapan, N.J. / University of Massachusetts Lowell) doubled to center to start the frame, before moving to third on a sacrifice bunt by Austin Gauthier (Lorton, Va. / Hofstra University). A sacrifice fly by Matt McDermott (Little Falls, N.J. / College of William & Mary) plated Devenney to extend Vermont's lead.

Murphy continued his dominance in the fifth inning before a two-out walk. He had retired 14 of the last 15 batters he faced since a leadoff single started the game. A two-out single put runners on the corners, but Murphy's fifth strikeout of the game ended the threat, keeping his shutout in tact.

That helped carry some momentum into the following inning. After Climo led off the inning with a double, Robison hit a two-run blast to make it 5-0 in favor of Vermont. DiLoreto followed suit two batters later, with a solo blast to put Vermont up 6-0 with one away in the sixth. That chased Keene's starter Luke Albright from the game.

A three-blast by Evan Giordano (Sewell, N.J. / Hofstra University) made it 9-0 in the seventh, followed by a leadoff solo home run in the eighth by Straton Podaras (Glen Head, N.Y. / Radford University) built a 10-0 advantage for the Mountaineers.

Keene threatened in the home half of the eighth, and eventually scored twice in the inning. The Swamp Bats loaded the bases with three-straight singles off Vermont's reliever Beau Keathley (Taylor, Mich. / Oakland University). Keathley got two quick outs but a two-run double by Logan Mathieu broke up the shutout to make it 10-2 in favor of the Mountaineers. Keathley got out of the inning with a strikeout. Ryan Steckline (Newark, Del. / Monmouth University) closed out the game for Vermont, striking out the side.

Murphy finished his night with six shutout innings of work and had seven strikeouts to one walk while scattering four hits for the win. Albright suffered the loss for the Swamp Bats, giving up six runs on 10 hits and a walk, while finishing with five strikeouts.

DiLoreto and Robison each had three hits and drove in two runs while both were a triple shy of the cycle. All but one Mountaineer scored a run with Climo and Robison scoring twice.

The Mountaineers return home on Wednesday, July 17 to take on their in-state rival the Upper Valley Nighthawks at historic Montpelier Recreation Field. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. You can follow all of the action online all season long on the NECBL Broadcast Network.

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