SteepleCats Homer Five Times To Beat Keene
 |
The home runs came early and often for the SteepleCats, who jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first. Second baseman Danny Lopez, appearing in his first game as a SteepleCat, singled to left in the first at bat of the game. The next batter, shortstop Brandon Macias, laid down a sacrifice bunt to push Lopez to second base with one out. Left fielder John Schultz then came to the plate and hit his first home run of the season to give the SteepleCats a 2-0 lead. First baseman Paul Hoilman followed that up with a home run of his own, his eighth of the season, to make the SteepleCat’s lead 3-0.
SteepleCats starter Ken Graveline cruised through the first three innings but ran into trouble in the middle innings. With one out in the fourth inning, Swamp Bats right fielder Chris Edmondson reached on a Hoilman fielding error. He moved to second base on catcher Dustin Spruill’s single. The next batter, left fielder Nick Pulsonetti, hit a triple into the right field corner to plate Edmondson and Spruill and make the score 3-2.
The Swamp Bats added two more in the fifth inning. Second baseman Jared King walked to lead off the inning. He moved to third on a Brandon Macias error that allowed designated hitter Tim Hayes to reach base. King then scored on center fielder Mark Onoratti’s base hit to right. Two outs later, Spruill scored on an Edmondson single to give the Swamp Bats a 4-3 lead.
Pulsonetti homered to lead off the Swamp Bats’ sixth inning to give the Swamp Bats a 5-3 lead. After giving up a single to the next batter, Graveline was lifted from the game in favor of Tim Shibuya. Shibuya shut the Swamp Bats down, as they would not score a run off him for the rest of the game.
Trailing 5-3 in the seventh inning, the SteepleCats put together another three-run inning to take back the lead. Right fielder Matt Goulas homered to left to make the score 5-4. After getting the next two batters to ground out to short, Swamp Bats starter Donny Albro was lifted in favor of Tommy Meagher. Meagher allowed a single to the first batter he faced, third baseman Bo Reeder. Lopez then hit a two-run home run to left field to put the SteepleCats back on top, 6-5.
The SteepleCats added two insurance runs in the top of the ninth. With one out, Lopez doubled to right center field. Brandon Macias then homered to left field to make the score 8-5. Macias was the fifth SteepleCat to homer on the evening.
Shibuya dominated the Swamp Bats over the game's final four innings and got the win. He allowed no runs and just one hit. In addition, he retired the last nine batters of the game in order. Meagher, who gave up Lopez’s home run in the seventh inning, pitched just one-third of an inning and took the loss. Both starters, Graveline and Albro, got no decisions.
The Keene Swamp Bats (18-12) will be home again tomorrow to take on the Lowell All-Americans. They will complete their suspended game from last week before playing the regularly scheduled contest. The SteepleCats (19-13) will be at Goodall Park to take on the Sanford Mainers in their final game before the NECBL All-Star break this weekend. For more information, please visit www.steeplecats.com.
