A few clouds. Low near 55F. Winds light and variable..
A few clouds. Low near 55F. Winds light and variable.
Vermont Mountaineers’ Santino Rosso gets brushed with the ball after popping it up off the bat during Tuesday night’s game in Montpelier.
Vermont Mountaineers infielder Stephen DiTomaso, left, tags Winnipesaukee Muskrat, Patrick Roche as he slides to second base during Tuesday night’s game.
Vermont Mutual Insurance Group, sponsors of the Vermont Mountaineers, start off the first pitch of the night at Tuesday’s game.
Vermont Mountaineers’ Santino Rosso gets brushed with the ball after popping it up off the bat during Tuesday night’s game in Montpelier.
Vermont Mountaineers infielder Stephen DiTomaso, left, tags Winnipesaukee Muskrat, Patrick Roche as he slides to second base during Tuesday night’s game.
Vermont Mutual Insurance Group, sponsors of the Vermont Mountaineers, start off the first pitch of the night at Tuesday’s game.
MONTPELIER — The Vermont Mountaineers suffered a lop-sided 9-2 loss against the Winnipesaukee Muskrats on Tuesday night at Montpelier Recreation Field in New England Collegiate Baseball League action.
The Mountaineers, who have now lost five straight, fall to 30-11 on the year. The Muskrats kept their postseason hopes alive and improved to 18-21.
It was a pitcher’s duel in the first four innings as Vermont’s Aaron Dona and Muskrats starter Adam Maher each had seven strikeouts through that span. Both pitchers worked out of jams to keep the game scoreless.
Vermont threatened in the fourth with a leadoff double by Tyler Cox, but he was stranded at third. Winnipesaukee then came out with a one-out double in the fifth by Michael Borrelli. However, Dona continued his dominant start picking up his eighth and ninth strikeouts of the game to strand a runner in scoring position.
Both starting pitchers combined for 18 strikeouts through five innings of scoreless baseball, each having nine.
Vermont finally broke through on the scoreboard in the sixth. Cox singled to center field. The ball got by Muskrats center fielder Tyler Grodell and Cox moved to third on the two-base error. Mark Trotta belted a ball deep to right center field to score Cox on a sacrifice fly and make it 1-0. A two-out walk chased Maher from the game.
After reliever Luke Carpenter got the final out of the sixth, he ran into some trouble in the top of the seventh. A one out walk, followed by a failed pick off attempt allowed pinch runner Randy Flores to advance to second. A ground out moved Flores to third, before a two-out walk put runners on the corners. Winnipesaukee tied the game on a two-out single by Ian Battipaglia.
The Muskrats put pressure on on the eighth. A leadoff single by Brendan Concannon followed by a stolen base and a pair of walks by Brendan Pattermann loaded the bases with no outs. James McDowell came in with a difficult task and the first batter he faced grounded a slow roller to third. The throw home got by the catcher, allowing two runs to score and put two runners back in scoring position, again with no outs. A two-run single to second and a single to right by Battipagila made it 6-1.
Vermont’s offense was unable to muster any offense in the last two innings while the Muskrats added three runs in the ninth. The Mountaineers added a run in the ninth on a sacrifice fly by newcomer Tyler Wells that scored Nic Notarangelo to make it 9-2.
Pattermann suffered loss, scattering a hit and a walk, while giving up three runs (one earned) and unable to record an out. Bryan KroliKowski earned his first win for the Muskrats, going an inning and a third and striking out one.
Dona eclipsed his previous season high which was six back on July 20 against the Muskrats. He finished this start going five and two-thirds innings of scoreless baseball with 10 strikeouts and just two walks.
Thanks in part to four home runs, the Keene SwampBats (15-24) defeated the Upper Valley Nighthawks (18-22) Tuesday night at Alumni Field.
With the score tied 2-2 through five innings, the SwampBats came alive in the bottom of the sixth when Tyler McKenzie (Vanderbilt) hit a two-run homer, his second home run of the game, to give Keene the lead. The SwampBats never looked back, scoring another two runs in the seventh off an error and a balk and four runs in the eighth thanks to a sacrifice fly by Matt Almonte (Pace) and a three-run home run from Tony Santa Maria (Rutgers) to cap off scoring for the night.
Ryan Ignoffo (Eastern Illinois) struck first for the Nighthawks, leading off the second inning with a solo home run, his 11th of the year. They scored again in the fourth when they loaded the bases with a pair of walks and a single by William Sullivan (Troy), scoring on a wild pitch.
Keene’s first run also came in the second inning off of a solo home run by McKenzie. Keeping with the theme of the night, Garrett Rice (Missouri Columbia) hit a solo shot of his own in the fourth inning, his seventh home run of the year, to give the SwampBats their second run.
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