Vermont Falls to Keene on Road
KEENE, N.H. The Vermont Mountaineers dropped a road contest to the Keene Swamp Bats, 7-4 on Tuesday night from Alumni Field in a North Division New England Collegiate Baseball League tilt.
Vermont falls to 4-3 and drops to second in the division while the Swamp Bats improve to 4-2 and move ahead of the Mountaineers by a half a game.
After Vermont failed to bring in a run in the first with a runner at third, Keene jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the home half. Blake DeLamielleurs belted an 0-2 pitch with two away to put the home team up one.
Nathan Knowles (William & Mary / Arlington, Va.) settled down for Vermont in the next inning, striking out the next three batters he faced. He had six strikeouts through the first two innings.
However, the Swamp Bats tacked on another run in the bottom of the third. Aidan Corn ripped a single to center, moved to third on a one-out single by Braydan Horton. Corn scored on a wild pitch while Horton moved to second.
Santino Rosso (Hofstra / Fairport, N.Y.) belted his first home run of the season to straight away center to lead off the fourth inning, cutting the Keene lead in half. Brandon Butterworth (Western Carolina / Charlotte, N.C.) singled before Marshall Toole (Wofford / Decatur, Ga.) walked to put two on and no outs. Nathan Goranson (William & Mary / Millville, N.J.) came up with the tying hit, going down the third base line with a single to score Butterworth from second.
After a scoreless fifth in which both teams had chances to take the lead, it was Vermont that took a 3-2 lead in the sixth inning. Goranson singled with one away before pinch hitter Nathan Waugh (Cornell / Placentia, Calif.) walked. After a pop out, TJ Williams (Notre Dame / Germantown, Md.) came up with his first hit of the season with a timely two-out single to center, scoring Goranson from second base.
Keene regained the lead in the bottom of the sixth. With a pair of runners on the corners and two outs, Jackson Owen belted a three-run blast to right field to put the Swamp Bats on top 5-3. The home team tacked on two more runs in the seventh to build a 7-3 lead.
Knowles finished the night with eight strikeouts in three innings of work while giving up two runs. Nick McAuliffe (East Stroudsburg / Phillipsburg, Pa.) suffered the loss, giving up three runs in an inning of work. Samuel Drumheller picked up the win for Keene in relief, going 2.1 innings while fanning three batters.
The Mountaineers enjoy an off day before traveling to Lynn, Massachusetts on Thursday, June 15. First pitch against the North Shore Navigators is set for 6:35 p.m. from Fraser Field. You can follow all the action on the NECBL Broadcast Network here
Photo Credit: Cierra Loomis, Digital Media/Photography Director
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