Keene Swamp Bats 2018 Diary

Looking for help with yard work, moving a wood pile, painting, or something else? (Such as, last July 7, when three Swamp Bats helped me move.) Contact us at 357-5464 or at swampbatsribby@gmail.com

The Swamp Bats are on the road for the next few games. Friday evening, the team travels to Holyoke to play the Valley Blue Sox. Saturday’s on off day and Sunday, the team travels to Montpelier for a game with the Vermont Mountaineers.  On Monday, the team travels to North Adams to face off with the SteepleCats. Mitchell Golden photo by Lex As always, the games will   be on your radio, 104.1 FM, 1220 AM . The Swamp Bats return Tuesday, July 3 as Vermont comes to Alumni Field. Bring a blanket and enjoy the Fireworks for a festive 4 th celebration.The game is sponsored by Service Credit Union .  

Tonight's game vs. Winnipesaukee has been rescheduled for a doubleheader on Saturday, July 7 at 4:00 pm

The “Hire a Swamp Bat” program is in full swing.  Moving? Yard work? Housepainting? Clean out the garage? Why ever you need an extra pair of hands, a good option for help is To Hire a Swamp Bats player. Jul 7, 2017 Zach, Gavin, Chris, Mitchell Your humble twitter maven & blogger can speak from experience; last July, I hired 2017 Swamp Bats (l-r) Zach Spangler, Gavin Hollowell, Chris Henry and Mitchell Webb for moving day. I was very happy with their help and their company. For information, swampbatsribby@gmail.com . * *you’ll probably need to stock up on energy drinks. 

The Swamp Bats and the Keene Sentinel are joining forces to produce the first annual Elite Athletes from the Monadnock Region. Fifty athletes, both male and female, will be recognized for their talents, sportsmanship, commitment to community and school and sense of fair play. Individual teams and coaches will also be feted at a banquet to be held at Keene Country Club at 6:00 pm Tonight.  Former Boston Red Sox pitcher Bill Lee will be the  keynote  speaker. Ticket info

Plymouth wins this one by a score of 10-2.  The evening was sponsored by Raynor Dental of Keene and Peterborough.  Rainclouds didn’t threaten the fun. There was facepainting , a dunk tank, a bounce castle, and feat(s) of strength. And for safety's sake, Triple A of Keene . A 3 run HR in the 4 th inning broke a 2-2 tie and Mother Nature put and end to Wednesday’s game as the Plymouth Pilgrims beat the Swamp Bats, 10-2 in 6 innings.

Evan Sperling allowed no runs and yielded only 4 hits for 6 innings. Jeffrey Praml and Heibert Romero  provided staunch relief  with Justin Willis recording the final two outs as the Swamp Bats beat the Ocean State Waves, 6-2 Tuesday night. photo by Lex The offense had 7 hits. Jacob Koos had two hits. Mike Woodworth, Charlie Concannon, C.J. Dunn and Alex Carballo and had one each. Each man also scored as did Joe Breaux. The Swamp Bats return to Alumni Field Wednesday for Raynor Dental  Night vs. the Plymouth Pilgrims. Festivities begin at 6 p.m. 

After three straights wins, the Swamp Bats lost Saturday night, 9-5, to the Valley Blue Sox. Sunday’s game at North Adams was rescheduled for Monday, July 2. The Swamp Bats are on the road tonight at the Ocean State Waves. The Plymouth Pilgrims visit is Wednesday evening where we celebrate  Brush and Floss with Ribby Night sponsored by Raynor Dental. We’ll have the parade and Ribby’s Land beginning at 6:00pm.

Ian Exposito turned in a brilliant start last Monday (June 18) in a 7-0 blanking of Winnipesaukee to account for one of the league’s best single-game outings by a pitcher this summer. He went eight innings with only one hit allowed, but more impressively, he fanned nine of the 25 batters he faced while allowing just a single walk. The rising senior at St. Thomas University (NAIA) and Florida native has now gone 1-1 in two starts with the Swamp Bats. He has a 4.50 ERA in that span with 12 strikeouts, four walks and six hits, while opponents are batting only .171 against him. Exposito is coming off a spring that saw him pitch 77.0 innings with a 3.04 ERA, a 9-1 record, 70 strikeouts and just 19 walks.  Also congratulations to Michael Woodworth (Keene/UConn) for making the week three honor roll. Mike led the league with 14 hits last week, going 3-3-4-2-2 in terms of hits in each of the first five games he played last week. Batted .538 altogether with five runs and seven...

Two hundred three souls braved a chilly, drizzly evening Saturday as the defending champion Valley Blue Sox bested the Swamp Bats, 9-5. Rain postponed Sunday’s road trip to North Adams, that game will be made up July 2. Monday’s an open date on the schedule and Tuesday has the team traveling to Ocean State. The Swamp Bats are home Wednesday and Thursday.

We still plan to play tonight at 6:30 p.m. However, the planned Brush and Floss with Ribby Night, sponsored by Raynor Dental, has been moved to Wednesday, June 27th. 

The Swamp Bats defeated Danbury 11-9. The Westerners and Swamp Bats combined for 25 hits.  C.J. Dunn had 3 RBI including his first Home Run, a monster of a shot in the direction of Left Field.  I say "in the direction of" cuz it just kept going and going.  Mitchell Golden went 3 for 4 and an RBI.    Jacob Koos was 2 for 3 with a double. Colby Dunlop pitched six innings and got he win. Attendance was 1047 on Corning and Star Wars night. It feels odd to say it was nice of Darth Vader and his friend stop by.

The newest Swamp Bat is an old friend of the Swamp Bats. Joe Fitzhenry has joined the team to work on radio broadcasts, write content and game recaps such as this one  , school me on how to tweet and, give us all a boost. The photo I took Friday night is no good so I have this one from a while back.

  The Danbury Westerners visit Friday as Corning sponsors a Science fair celebration and Star Wars drop by.   This was great fun last year and not to be missed! 2016-Gavin Hollowell confronts Lord Vader

Extra innings win for Keene as the Swamp Bats beat Upper Valley, 7-5 in 10 innings. Justin Willis gets the win. Andrew  Houde  was valuable in middle relief. The Swamp Bat are home Friday and Saturday.

The Keene Swamp Bats will host a unique one week camp this summer.  Collegiate Baseball Progression camp is designed  for Freshmen, Sophomores and Juniors (ages 14-16). This camp will take place at the  Keene State College baseball complex, June 25th through 29th,  8:30 am - noon.

photo by Lex

Our next home game is Friday vs. the Danbury Westerners! The game is sponsored by Corning and will feature a Science fair celebration! Also keep an eye out around the park to look for Star Wars characters to take pictures with!

photo by Lex It was a big night in a 16-10 win over the Vermont Mountaineers. The Swamp Bats registered 19 hits including Home Runs by Joe Breaux, Alex Griffith and Brandon Smith.  After missing a week under concussion protocol,  Jake Whitcomb bounced back, going 1 for 3 and getting plunked twice. Jake Whitcomb on Jun 6 Charlie Concannon of St. Joe's made his Swamp Bats debut going 2 for 4 with a walk and 2 RBI. Charlie Concannon.

The Vermont Mountaineers visit Wednesday. This game is sponsored by the Greater Keene Rotaract Club along with Games 2 Go . They will feature large scale versions of your favorite board games such as Jenga, Connect Four and more! The Games 2 Go mascot, Bingo will join us. Special guest Wally.

6:30 tonight on 104.1 FM & 1220 AM FOX SPORTS and NECBL.

On the road, @ Plymouth Pilgrims, ballgame at 6:30 pm And coaches and players have baseball clinics in the morning. RESPECT

Your Swamp Bats visit Plymouth to take on the Pilgrims. If you can’t make the trip, you can  tune into Fox Sports Keene 104.1 FM or 1220 AM. You can also listen to the game at necbl.com .

The ‘Bats return to Alumni for a home game against the Vermont Mountaineers.  This game is sponsored by the Greater Keene Rotaract Club along with Games 2 Go. They will feature large scale versions of your favorite board games such as Jenga, Connect Four and more! The Games 2 Go mascot, Bingo will also be joining us for lots of fun and  activity . Wally, of the Red Sox will join us and from 7 pm to 7:45 you can get a photo with him!

Ian Exposito pitched a one hit gem and the Swamp Bats won, 7-0. photo by Lex Newcomer Jacob Koos went 3 for 5 with a leadoff Homer Run and a triple.  Lorenzo Hampton, another addition, went 1 for 4 with an RBI double.  Alex Griffith went 3 for 5 with a Home Run.  Mike Woodworth had a Home Run. Not a photo and NOT by Lex Mitchell Golden went 1 for 2 with 2 walks and in the field, Golden had 11 assists.  The Swamp Bats travel to Plymouth Tuesday and take on the Pilgrims @ 6:30.

 Wally from the Boston Red Sox will be joining Ribby for our Greater Keene Rotaract Club night on Wednesday 6/20! Come & get your picture with Wally from 7:00-7:45PM down at Alumni Field!

Our June 5th rained out game against the Muskrats will be made up on Monday, June 18th . tonight. The start time is 6:05.

The theme of Saturday’s evening at Alumni Field was to honor First Responders. Area law enforcement, firefighters and public safety organizations took part. Children engaged with these public servants with discussion on fire safety, and demonstration, presentation, education and participation of CPR technique. Plus, the kids got the good old-fashioned chance to sit behind the wheel of an Emergency vehicle.  Smokey Bear attended with representatives of the Cheshire County Forest Fire Warden’s Association. All photos by Lex Sara Pelkey, the Director of Operations for the Swamp Bats, gave a lovely tribute to fallen Swanzey firefighter Benjamin Tatro before Saturday's game.

Four loses since Winnipesaukee lead us to ….Winnipesaukee. Sunday’s 6:05 pm game is followed by Monday’s game at Winnipesaukee.*  On Tuesday, the Swamp Bats play at Plymouth and return Wednesday to host the Vermont Mountaineers. *Makeup for postponed June 5 game.

 As the Swamp Bats face the North Adams SteepleCats they will also be honoring our First Responders! Smokey Bear will be there to give out high fives and stick around after the game for a fireworks display sponsored by Atlas Fireworks .

Our first week of summer camp starts Monday, June 18th at 8:30 a.m. The two camps are led by Swamp Bats players and coaches and the cost is $110.00The second week begins June 25th. There is still time to sign-up for either week! You can sign up here.

The Swamp Bats are on the road Friday vs. the Newport Gulls. Saturday will be First Responders Night as the Bats face the North Adams Steeplecats. Smokey throws first pitch before the Swamp Bats play Vermont in 2014 Smokey Bear will be at the game to give out high fives. A fireworks display will be held after the game, sponsored by Atlas Fireworks .

After a tough loss at Alumni Wednesday, the Swamp Bats have two road games. Thursday's game is at Valley and Friday, the Swamp Bats visit Newport. The Swamp Bats return home Saturday. The evening is devoted to First Responders . There's a celebration with fireworks after the game. 

It's been said the community treats our players like the Red Sox. Maybe. But really, the community treats our players as the The Keene Swamp Bats. Griff McGarry from photos by Lex