Bats Come Up Short at Upper Valley, 10-9
Skid, Road Struggles Continue for Keene
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
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1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 9 | 2 |
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1 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 10 | 13 | 0 |
by Hank Greenberg
WHITE RIVER JUNCTION, Vt. - The Keene SwampBats (17-18-1), looking to bounce back from a crushing 19-2 loss, took a quick drive up to Vermont to take on the Upper Valley Nighthawks (19-15-1) for the fifth time this season. The Bats' looked to defeat Upper Valley for the first time this season, as the Nighthawks came into this game holding a 0-3-1 series lead.
Micah Kendrick (Louisiana Lafayette) hit a sacrifice fly into right field that was just deep enough to bring home Jackson Smith (Cincinnati) and open up the scoring for the SwampBats, giving them an early 1-0 lead.
Nick Quagliato lined a triple to right center field, bringing home James Love and equalling the score at one going into the second inning.
The Bats regained a 3-1 lead in the second inning, a Smith double which brought Petey Craska (North Alabama) and TJ Schuyler (Georgia Southern) across home plate before Nico Senese (Georgia Southern) singled up the middle, bringing Dylan Fitzsimmons (St John's) home.
This lead did not last very long, as the Nighthawks put up four runs in the following half inning. Alex Kelsey doubled to first base which brought home Levi Jones before Love singled to right field, bringing Frank Kelly home. Kyle Langley then singled, allowing both Quagliato and Love to cross home plate.
The Nighthawks piled on insurance in the fourth inning. Love shot another single down the middle, allowing Kelly to cross home plate. Quaglitio added to his day by doubling down the right field line, allowing Kelsey to score. Love and Quagliato were then both scored on wild pitches.
Keene cut the lead in half in the sixth after Fitzsimmons doubled into left center field and brought Antonio Cordeiro (St John's) home. They would cut the lead down to one in the seventh inning, first with a Charlie Meglio (Rutgers) triple which brought Kendrick home and then a sacrifice fly by Eli Stephens (Georgia Tech) to score Meglio. One of the newest Bats' in Craska, launched a home run to right field which brought home Schuyler.
Rocco Calise (Eckerd), a recently announced 2026 NECBL All-Star for Keene, received the call in this one. He gave up six runs and struck out a pair of batters in 2.1 innings of work. The ball was handed to Evan Chaffee (St John's), a returning SwampBat making his first appearance of the season. In 2.2 innings of work he struck out five batters and gave up four runs. Brady Stephens (Mars Hill) took over from there, in two innings he gave up zero runs and struck out two batters. Robert Gilchrest (Connecticut) threw in the eighth, finishing with a strikeout.
The Nighthawks handed the ball to Eric Santaella in the starting role. In three innings of work he struck out three batters and gave up four runs. Aaron Robinson then took over, in three innings of work he struck out two batters and gave up two runs. Charlie Jones was called on in relief for the last two innings, earning the save after striking out a batter and giving up zero runs.
The SwampBats travel to Martha's Vineyard tomorrow for game two of the 2025 NECBL Championship rematch before making a return to Alumni Field for a matchup with the Vermont Mountaineers; first pitch is scheduled for 6:35 on Tuesday evening.