The Vermont Mountaineers took first place in the North division on Sunday in Montpelier, defeating the SwampBats 7-5.

The SwampBats jumped on top early when Penn State’s Joe Jaconski lined a single to center to start the game. The ball was booted by the Vermont center fielder allowing him to advance to second. He moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Penn State teammate Bryce Molinaro. Keene suffered a close call in the bottom half, as Vermont hit a ball high over the right field foul pole, and the first base umpire called it foul. The batter jumped up and down as Mountaineers’ manager Mitch Holmes sprinted out of the dugout to argue. The incident only appeared to fuel SwampBats starter Nick Perryman as he retired five of the next six batters. Keene added to their lead following singles by Ripken Reese (Kent State) and Molinaro in the third. Alex Calarco (Maryland) hit a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Calarco to make it 2-0.

Perryman ran into trouble in the third, when two walks, three hits, and a sacrifice fly put the home team in front 3-2. The SwampBats responded well in the top of the fourth, tying the game on an error, an Austin Hawke (Wake Forest) single, and a Jaconski RBI groundout. This quieted the Vermont crowd temporarily. In the bottom half, Vermont took control of the game on a walk, a double down the right field line, two more walks, and a sacrifice fly, taking a 5-3 lead. Keene answered back again in the fifth, scoring on a Calarco double and a Nick Romano (Florida Atlantic) single to pull within a run. In the bottom of the sixth, Vermont built on their lead with one walk and three singles to make it 7-4. Jaden Varner (Kent State) kept the SwampBats in the game with two scoreless innings out of the bullpen. Keene got another run back with a Jaconski single in the top of the eighth, but a dramatic 3-2 check swing strikeout ended the rally with the tying runs in scoring position. Louisville’s Jared Lessman pitched a scoreless eighth to keep Keene within striking distance. In the ninth, Jake Koonin (Princeton) reached base on an infield single, a play that brought Holmes out of the dugout for one of many fiery arguments in the game. With the tying run at bat, the SwampBats would not get another baserunner.

Keene (6-4) returns home for a rescheduled game Monday at 6:35 against the Upper Valley Nighthawks. There will be glitter tattoos, face painters, balloon animals and Touch-a-bus the game.