O'Brien Destroys First Pitch of Ninth into Night Sky, Bats Open Playoffs with Thrilling Win

KEENE, NH - The chase for the Fay Vincent Sr. cup began in Keene on Friday, as the SwampBats hosted the Upper Valley Nighthawks for game one of the North division semifinal series. Despite Keene winning the regular season series between the squads five games to one, the Nighthawks battled early and hung with the Bats all night long. A pitcher's duel finally came to a head in the bottom of the ninth, when LF Michael O'Brien landed the first pitch he saw on the red barn in right field to win it for Keene, 2-1.

Workhorse righthander Kyle Peters (UConn) was given the ball as the starter for game one of the three game set, and returned to form after a two inning outing last Friday. This time around, Peters went five innings, allowing just one hit and one unearned run, walking two and sending three Nighthawks down on strikes. Through the first three innings, Peters faced just one more than the minimum.

Upper Valley struck first in the fourth, on a single from 3B Michael Trommer that scored RF Cole Fellows, who was aboard in the first inning due to a fielding error from Keene. As it has been so many times this year, Keene didn't take long to find its response, as a single from RF Jack Herring (ECU) in the bottom of the fifth brought home DH Ty Mainolfi (Boston College). The Bats had a chance to add on more, but left the bases loaded at the end of the inning. From that point forward, pitching once again came to the forefront with strong relief efforts from Keene's Jayden Barroqueiro (Seton Hall) and Upper Valley's combination of Drew Koenen and Steve Mazza.

Barroqueiro's three and a third innings of work with three strikeouts was enough to get flamethrower Nate Bassett into the game in the top of the ninth. Bassett's fastball topped out at 96 MPH, and he recorded two strikeouts to put Keene in the driver's seat with a chance to walk it off. Michael O'Brien (Little Rock) stepped up, and only needed one pitch to send the fans home happy, as he crushed the first offering from Mateo Wells to deep right field to give the Bats the walk-off win.

The SwampBats start their chase for championship number six on the right foot, with a 1-0 lead on Upper Valley. The two teams will face each other again tomorrow, August 2nd, at Maxfield Sports Complex in White River Junction, VT. If the Bats win, they take the series and will face the winner of the North Adams/Sanford series. If the Nighthawks win, Keene will host game three on Sunday, August 3.

First pitch for Saturday is scheduled for 6:30 PM, and the game will be streamed live on NECBL+.