Team Info

Keene got the win they needed, avoiding an embarrassing doubleheader sweep to Sanford. However, the win had a bitter taste as Keene used more bullpen and are now down to about three relief pitchers for tomorrow’s affair with Vermont.

Sanford had the opportunity to strike in the first inning against Marc Davis, making his first start as a Swampbat.

Davis got the win but struggled with the long ball, similar to Zach Messinger, who lost the first game.

With a man on third and two out, Nick Howie popped out to right, keeping it 0-0.

Heading into the bottom of the first, Keene started off the scoring with a Randall Bednar 340 foot homer into deep left field, scoring Kevin Welsh.

Up 2-0, Kyle Ball then hit an RBI single to right center and Andrew MacNeil hit a sac fly to left, scoring Logan Mathieu.

It was not over yet for Sanford as Keene tacked on one more following a throwing error from Mainers catcher Orlando Adams. With Kyle Ball stealing third, Adams fired a missile into the left glute of Ball, rolling into left field and scoring the Swampbats third basemen.

Though Adams gave up the run on the throwing error, he made up for it with his bat as the University of Kentucky catcher, along with Connor Tate, hit a 376 moon shot to left, one of two dingers in the half inning and cutting Keene’s lead to three.

With the score 5-2, Keene added two more runs in the second following a Logan Mathieu sac grounder and a Kyle Ball sac fly to right.

Down 7-2, Sanford started one of two rallies on the night in the fourth. Though Keene never actually gave up the lead during the game, the Mainers did make it stressful for Keene’s coaching staff.  

Following Connor Tate’s second solo dinger of the night, Orlando Adams was hit by a pitch and Jack Van Remortal walked.

Adams, who thought starter Marc Davis hit him intentionally, nearly charged the mound and started a brawl.

With Van Remortal on first and Adams on second, Sterling Hayes took a Davis fastball deep to left center, making it 7-6 Keene.

Keene retaliated with six runs in the following half inning, including Justice3e Lucas’ first dinger of the season. The 6-6 brick wall launched a fastball off of Sanford reliever Gavin Bates to the parking lot in left. With a smile on his face, Lucas trotted into home.

A player with an intimidating build, the right-hander from Northwest Florida is probably the nicest kid you will ever meet. Beloved by the entire Keene roster, he was given hugs and high fives throughout the dugout.

With Kyle Ball hitting a two-run single, the Swampbats maintained a safe 13-6 lead. Then Sanford decided to strike again.

With Marc Davis running on fumes, the right-hander from Florida Southwestern threw a wild pitch to score Shane Marshall.

The lead now cut to six, Davis then walked Connor Tate and Elliott Curtis and hit Erik Stock with a pitch. With bases loaded and one out, in came Erick Zecha.

Zecha, who pitched an inning and 2/3 nearly 24 hours before, gave up a grand slam to Orlando Adams, his second dinger of the night and one that put Sanford within two runs of taking the lead.

This was then followed up by a Sterling Hayes double and Drew DeMartino RBI double, both down the left field line with the latter scoring Hayes from second.

Now a one-run lead for Keene, Cristian Sanchez entered the game. Sanchez got the first batter he faced out, but Keene was thrown into another stressful situation with their seven-run lead reduced to one.

Up 13-12, Kevin Welsh launched a Mike Vasturia fastball off of the Alumni scoreboard, a three-run dinger and his first as a Swampbat.

Now 16-12, Keene looked to Justin Willis, another relief pitcher who pitched in Sanford yesterday, to finish off the final six outs.

The right-hander, who came in with a 2.84 ERA, was flawless through two innings, killing Sanford’s late rally.

Keene’s order helped the righty with a Justice Lucas RBI double and a Seth Caddell RBI double, extending it to a six-run lead in the bottom of the sixth.

For Keene, it was beneficial that the game was seven innings but going into tomorrow’s game, with Luke Albright on the bump, they will need the Kent State right-hander to shut down Vermont for at least six innings.

After today’s doubleheader, Keene is down to Logan Mathieu, Sean Heine, Cristian Sanchez, and Joseph Simeone as relief options and Albright is coming off his worst start of 1 and 2/3 innings pitched against Winnipesaukee, in which Keene lost 15-5.

If the right-hander goes less than three innings in tomorrow’s game, the Swampbats are going to be strapped for options at pitcher.