NEWS

HOLYOKE, MA – Right fielder Brett DeLoach (Blackshear, GA/Georgia) went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and three runs batted in to help the Keene Swamp Bats force game three in the New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) Western Division Championship Series with an 8-5 win over the Holyoke Blue Sox on Sunday night at Mackenzie Stadium.
 
Keene and Holyoke will play for the Western Division Championship tomorrow night at Alumni Field with first pitch scheduled for 6:30 pm.
 
Swamp Bats right-hander Taylor Williams (Camas, WA/Washington St.) earned the win on seven innings of work, two runs (both earned), three hits, two walks and four strikeouts. Blue Sox starter Desmond Paulson (Taylorville, VT/BYU) suffered the loss on four-and-one-thirds innings pitched, four runs (all earned), eight hits, three walks and four punchouts.
 
Holyoke struck first in the bottom of the second inning as Justin Ringo (Palos Park, IL/Stanford) notched an RBI single to centerfield plating teammate Sam Eberle (Chattanooga, TN/Jacksonville St.) who walked earlier in the frame.
 
Keene responded with a four-run frame in the fifth to take a 4-1 lead. With one out in the inning, Kevin Brown (Northborough, MA/Bryant) tied up the contest at 1-1 driving home Michael Burruss (Marietta, GA/Georgia Southern) from second base with an infield single. Brett DeLoach (Blackshear, GA/Georgia) followed and ripped a two-run double to right centerfield scoring Curt Powell (Knoxville, TN/Georgia) and Brown for a 3-1 advantage.
 
Swamp Bats catcher David Lyon (Emporium, PA/Kent St.) capped the four-run outburst in the fifth with an RBI single to right field sending DeLoach in to score from second base.
 
Alex Glenn (Huntington Beach, CA/USC) cut Holyoke’s deficit in half, 4-2, in the sixth with a solo home run to right field to leadoff the inning. Williams held the Blue Sox scoreless through the rest of the frame with three consecutive fly outs.
 
In the following half inning, Keene’s offense produced another four-run inning to push the gape to 8-2. DeLoach drove in Brown, who singled to leadoff the frame, with a triple to right centerfield to make it 5-2. Lyon followed and picked up his second RBI of the night with a double off of the left field wall. After third baseman Colby May (Guyton, GA/Georgia) struck out swinging but reached base safely on a dropped third strike, Esteban Gomez (Brooklyn, NY/San Jacinto) laced an RBI single through the right side of the infield for a 7-2 advantage. Burruss closed out the scoring with a double to right centerfield plating May.
 
Holyoke threatened in the bottom of the eighth inning but only managed to scratch across one run against Swamp Bats reliever Timothy Flight (Portsmouth, RI/Southern NH). With one out, Glenn roped a triple to left field and Eric Smith (La Canada, CA/Stanford) cashed in on the runner in scoring position with a sharp infield single to short. Ronnie Freeman (Lawrenceville, GA/Kennesaw St.) put runners at second and third in the next at-bat with a double to deep left field but Flight used a groundout and a strike out swinging to extinguish any further damage.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, Blue Sox first baseman Trey Mancini (Winter Haven, FL/Notre Dame) belted a leadoff home run to right field to cut the score to 8-4. After Ringo reached on a fielding error and Matt Tenaglia (Doylestown, PA/James Madison) was walked, Flight was relieved for Kyle Gehrs (Independence, MO/Iowa Western CC) who closed out the remainder of the contest despite allowing one run to score on a wild pitch.
 
Keene’s top four hitters in the lineup collected multi-hit games with Powell going 3-for-6 with one run scored out of the leadoff spot.