SwampBats Come from Behind, Clinch North with Thrilling Win at Sanford
SANFORD, ME – In their first game back in action after the NECBL All-Star game, the Keene SwampBats headed to Goodall Park in Maine to take on the Sanford Mainers for the sixth and final time in the regular season. What started out as a pure pitchers’ duel turned into excitement from both sides in the later stages, as the SwampBats triumphed by a final score of 4-3.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 1 |
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0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0 |
by Andrew Hillsman
SANFORD, ME – In their first game back in action after the NECBL All-Star game, the Keene SwampBats headed to Goodall Park in Maine to take on the Sanford Mainers for the sixth and final time in the regular season. What started out as a pure pitchers' duel turned into excitement from both sides in the later stages, as the SwampBats triumphed by a final score of 4-3.
Southpaw Evan Chaffee (St. John's) made his second start of the summer for the Bats, and after a tough first outing last week, Chaffee responded by turning in five brilliant innings of no-hit ball, while fanning two and only allowing one run on a pair of wild pitches in the fifth. In fact, Chaffee threw four perfect innings, until a beanball with no outs in the fifth ended the bid. This game was the longest a SwampBat starter has stayed perfect in an outing this year.
Along with the pitching success, Keene racked up hits early, with at least one in each of the first six innings before finally scoring all four of its runs in the seventh. Sanford starter Connor Ball (Stetson) worked out of some early jams to force the Bats to strand six baserunners during his outing.
Sanford cracked the game open with a run scored on a wild pitch from Chaffee in the fifth, and added two more in the bottom of the sixth, as RF Luke Jenkins (UNC Greensboro) sent his first homer of the year over the wall in right to give the Mainers a 3-0 lead. Then, it was time for the Bats to strike.
SwampBats catcher TJ Schuyler (Indiana) got the top of the seventh started with a hard-hit single the other way, and SS Andrew Bell (Duke) drew a walk to keep the line moving. DH Ty Mainolfi (Boston College) singled to load the bases, and it only took one out to bring RF Jack Herring (ECU) to the plate. Herring singled to right to bring in two runs, and was brought home on a triple from LF Michael O'Brien (Little Rock). O'Brien scored on a wild pitch, marking the last run of the game for Keene - just the right amount to take the win.
After a solid setup inning from RHP Andrew Lepine (Stetson), who recorded the win with a walk and a strikeout, tall righty Nate Bassett (Virginia) retired three straight in the ninth to earn his second save of the summer, with two groundouts and a strikeout to end the game. With the win, Keene clinches the top seed in the North division for the postseason.
Keene makes it five straight and improves to 27-11 this summer, and will host North Shore (14-21) to wrap up the season series against the Navigators on Wednesday, July 23rd. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 PM, and the game will be streamed live on ESPN+.