KEENE, N.H. – (MyKeeneNow) The SwampBats required a comeback on the road but defeated the North Adams SteepleCats 10-9 on Thursday night.

The SteepleCats pounced early. Their second batter of the game drilled a two-run home run over the left field fence. The next four batters reached base as well, forcing the SwampBats into an early pitching change, trailing 4-0. Another run came home via an error on what should have been a caught stealing, an uncharacteristic play by the SwampBats’ league best defense. When it looked like the game could get out of control, Ben Shenosky (Penn State) came on in relief and recorded all three outs without any further damage. Austin Hawke (Wake Forest) drew a bases-loaded walk to pull a run back in the top of the second.

It remained 5-1 until the top of the fourth when the SwampBats’ offense came alive. Nick Romano (Florida Atlantic) led off by roping a double into center field, and then Andrew Wiggins (Indiana) walked. J.D. Jones (Rutgers) belted a double to the right field corner, scoring Romano even though Wiggins was thrown out at home. After Hawke singled and Jones scored on a wild pitch, Joe Jaconski (Penn State) belted a high flyball over the center fielder’s head for an RBI double. Two walks later, the bases were loaded for Cincinnati’s Christian Mitchelle, who also saw ball four to tie the game at five. On the other side, Shenosky silenced the SteepleCats for four innings, holding them scoreless while striking out two.

With the game tied at five going to the fifth, more chaos ensued. It began with a single by Wiggins, who advanced to third on back-to-back wild pitches. JD Jones then smacked a base hit to left field, giving the SwampBats their first lead. Hawke was hit by a pitch, and Jaconski drove in Jones with a single to right. The contagious hot hitting continued with a Jake Koonin (Princeton) RBI single and a Josh Kross (Cincinnati) sacrifice fly. The SwampBats second consecutive four-run inning made it 9-5 and stunned the SteepleCats’ crowd. It briefly looked like Keene might run away with it but the SteepleCats responded immediately instead. They scored three runs on two hits and four walks in the bottom of the fifth to make it 9-8. Alex Jankowski (Stony Brook) maintained the lead with a huge strikeout to strand the bases loaded.

Kent State’s Jaden Varner entered to pitch the sixth, and was victimized by a double and an error to place runners on the corners with two outs. As the runner from first took off four second, Mitchelle broke from shortstop to cover the bag. The batter drilled a one-hopper to the area which Mitchelle had vacated, but he somehow doubled back, picked the ball, and threw to first to preserve the lead. North Adams ambushed Varner in the seventh with a leadoff home run to tie the game at nine. Varner got the next two outs before making way for Louisville’s Jared Lessman, who finished the inning. With the tension palpable at Joe Wolfe Field, the SwampBats’ first two batters were retired in the eighth. Romano gave the team life with a single off the shortstop’s glove, and Wiggins followed with a similar hit off the third baseman’s leather. With a chance to give Keene the lead, Jones hit a chopper to third base. The North Adams third baseman backed up to play the hop, and fired his throw all the way to the fence past the first base dugout, allowing Romano to score and give the Bats a 10-9 lead. Lessman, who earned the win, pitched a clean eighth, making way for Central Florida’s Isaac Williams in the ninth. After an error and a single put him in a precarious situation, Williams induced a massive 4-6-3 double play, and then a game-ending groundout, earning his sixth save.

Keene (12-5) has won four straight and is back at home Friday evening against Upper Valley for Camper Night with Raynor Dental and the Red Sox Foundation.