Swamp Bats Surge Past Vermont, 10-4
Keene clinches
ninth-straight postseason berth with victory
KEENE,
N.H. (July 27, 2007) – The Keene Swamp Bats clinched a spot in
the upcoming New England Collegiate Baseball League playoffs
with a 10-4 victory over the Vermont Mountaineers in NECBL
Northern Division action before 2,678 at Alumni Field tonight.
Mike Vass (Orange, Calif./UC Riverside) paced the Keene offense,
which racked up 11 hits, as he went 3-for-4 with two RBI. Paul
Gran (Bothell, Wash./Washington State) hit 2-3 with two runs
scored, while Chris Sheehan (Strasburg, Pa./Georgia Southern)
was 2-5 with a double, RBI and two runs scored. Griffin Benedict
(Atlanta, Ga./Georgia Southern) chipped in with three RBI.
Right-hander Miguel Valcarcel (Carolina, Puerto Rico/St. John’s)
earned the win for the Swamp Bats (4-1) as he allowed two earned
runs on six hits with five strikeouts and a walk over six
innings. Kyle Henry (Brattleboro, Vt./Vermont) struck out the
side in order for Keene in the ninth.
A.J. Pollock (Hebron, Conn./Notre Dame) hit 3-for-4 with two
stolen bases and two runs scored. Mike Sheridan (Washington,
D.C./William & Mary) was 2-4 with a steal and two RBI, while
Robbie Nickle (Midlothian, Va./William & Mary) chipped in a home
run.
Max Perlman (Longwood, Fla./Harvard) was the hard-luck loser for
Vermont (4-3) as he was hit for five unearned runs on seven hits
with seven strikeouts and a walk over six innings. Just two of
Keene’s ten runs were earned as the Mountaineers committed four
errors.
Vermont struck first with a single run in the first as Pollock
singled with two out, stole second and scored on a single
through the left side by Curt Smith (Willemstad, Curacao/Maine).
Keene squandered a scoring chance in the home half, loading the
bases with none out but coming up empty.
The Swamp Bats finally broke through with five unearned runs in
the third, aided by a pair of Vermont errors and sparked by a
bases-clearing three-run triple by Benedict with one out that
put the hosts up 4-1. Sheehan knotted the score with an infield
RBI single and Vass added an RBI single. Vermont got a run back
in the fifth with a leadoff home run from Nickle.
Keene busted the game open with four in the seventh, with
another key Mountaineers error in the frame. Gran scored on a
passed ball with the bases loaded, before Fleury delivered an
RBI single. The inning was compounded when a line drive to left
was misjudged by the Vermont leftfielder, allowing the ball to
roll to the fence and a run to score, before Vass chipped in
with an RBI single.
Keene (21-17) is back home tomorrow night when it hosts NECBL
Northern Division leaders the Holyoke Giants at 7 p.m. Vermont
(22-15) visits the Lowell All-Americans tomorrow night at 6:30
p.m.
Teams 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
R H E
VER 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 4 8 4
KNE 0 0 5 0 0 0 4 1 X 10 11 3
Batteries:
VER – Max Perlman, A.J. Balsinde (7), Alec Meyer (7) and Chad
Durakis.
KNE – Miguel Valcarcel, Seth Harvey (7), Kyle Henry (9) and
Griffin Benedict.
WP: Valcarcel (4-1)
LP: Perlman (4-3)
