SwampBats Take Season Opener In Familiar Fashion
Almost like they were picking up where they left off from the 2025 playoffs, Keene powers a late comeback to take over a 4-3 win against the Danbury Westerners on opening day of the NECBL's 2026 season.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
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0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 1 |
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0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | X | 4 | 8 | 1 |
Keene, NH - As the pregame Fincent Fay Cup ceremony wrapped up before first pitch, the SwampBats knew it was time to turn the page and look straight ahead into the 2026 season. With the new team assembled, it still felt like the old SwampBats.
RHP Ryan Bailey (Maryland) got the start in the season's opener. He started hot, but in the second inning, ran into some of his own trouble by walking a few batters. When a dribbler was hit to Bailey, he had a misfire to second base that led to a run scoring. Even with no outs in that time, Bailey was able to strand the rest loaded.
Keene would then respond with a run of their own in the bottom half of the second. Collin Anderson (Duke) singled to center field and Gavin Speirs (Charleston Southern) would come home from third to score.
The third inning came with some more trouble for the SwamBats as Ronan Donohue stepped up to the plate and delivered a go-ahead two-run homer to straight away center field that made the score 3-1. Bailey settled back in, but had his pitch count running high just heading into the fourth inning.
Though the Swambats looked like they were going to respond once again in the bottom half of the inning with the first two batters reaching, a killer double play wiped away any momenentem that the Bats had and continued to trail 3-1.
Andrew Lepine (Stetson) came in to quiet the Westerners while Keene was trailing going into the middle innings. Despite Lepine's 3 innings of scoreless work, the Bats' offense could not quite get it together just yet.
Until the 7th inning, it was a very quiet game, but then there started to be some chatter. In the bottom half of the 7th, Luke Boykin (Samford) would deliver an RBI single to cut the deficit to just 1 run.
The bottom half of the eighth inning came and the SwampBats started warming up their closer, Nate Bassit (Virginia), while they were still trailing 3-2, but not trailing for long. Nico Senese (Georgia Southern) had the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position with two outs, and he did not miss his opportunity. A single down the third base line helped the SwampBats to gain the lead. Bassit did not give it back, striking out the side in the top of the ninth to secure the home opening win with a 4-3 victory.
The Bats move to 1-0 on the season and go on the road Friday night to take on the North Shore Navigators in Lynn MA. First pitch between the Bats and Navigators is set for 6:05 PM, and the game will be streamed live on HomeTeam network.