NECBL-Best Bats Carve Up Navigators, 8-1

by Andrew Hillsman

KEENE, NH - After a game that went down to the wire at Sanford the night before, the Keene SwampBats took care of business without much hassle against the North Shore Navigators (14-22), taking the season series in an 8-1 victory in which Keene pitchers fanned a season-high 18 hitters.

Tall righthander Aydan Decker-Petty (Liberty) made his third start and tenth appearance of the summer for the Bats, and was nothing short of brilliant, with two perfect innings to start, and five total frames of one run, two-hit ball while blowing past his previous strikeout high with eight. He struck out the side in the first, and sent down two more by strikeout in the second, allowing the first baserunner of the game on a walk in the third. The outing marked the second straight night a SwampBat starter has begun a game with multiple perfect innings.

The offense didn't take long to heat up either, as after stranding two in scoring position in the first, Keene got on the board as SS Connor Peek (Georgetown) drove in his first run as a Bat in his fifth game, scoring CF Marshall Lipsey (FAU) from third. North Shore scored its only run in the fourth to respond, as 3B Davis Baker (Penn) brought home 1B Alex Marot (Charleston Southern). Keene's Chandler Tuupo (Charleston Southern) had an answer, in the form of his long-awaited first home run of the summer, a two run no doubt shot to center. The blast marked the fifth straight home game the SwampBats have put at least one over the fences.

LF Michael O'Brien (Little Rock) kept things going at the dish, blasting his fourth home run of the summer in the home half of the fifth, marking the last runs either team would bring home until the eighth. In between those scores, SwampBat LHP Mikey Fernandez (Miami) turned in his best outing of the summer, throwing three innings of near-flawless baseball, without allowing a hit or a walk and striking out seven. In that eighth inning, DH Ripken Reese (Kent State) equaled his total of eight homers from last year, crushing a ball at 105 miles per hour out to right field to bring home three runs.

RHP Kian Vorster (Louisville) came on to wrap up the game in the ninth, as he struck out the side to send the fans home happy. The Bats have now won six straight, the longest active streak in the NECBL, and have also won nine of their last ten. Keene improves to 28-11 this summer, and will host Upper Valley (16-20) on Thursday, July 24th. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 PM, and the game will be streamed live on ESPN+.