The battle of the Luke’s commenced for the second time this year and this time, Luke Sweany came out victorious. The bullpen pitcher had started against Keene three weeks before and lost a brutal game 4-3.

Valley may have been beaten down by the 11-10 loss in Keene last night, but they handed the Swampbats one of their most frustrating losses, shutting out Keene’s offense in a 1-0 game.

For Luke Albright, Keene’s starter, he gets a tough-luck loss in probably his final start as a Swampbat.

For Valley, they achieve some momentum heading back to Keene tomorrow night.

Albright, who was on a strict 75 pitch limit, utilized every single one as he threw a total of 14 pitches through the first two innings.

 If there was one problem nagging at Keene, it was hitting with runners in scoring position. Keene flopped on every opportunity, stranding nearly 10 runners on base.

The first of these flops came in the third. After Andrew MacNeil doubled to right, Keene had second and third and no outs.

Even with top of the order coming up, Keene could not do anything as Kevin Welsh struck out, Randall Bednar popped out to second, and David Bedgood lined out to center, keeping it 0-0.

During the top of the sixth, Keene’s offense fell apart once again with 1st and 3rd and two out. With Logan Mathieu at the plate, Will Wagner stole second and after fouling off five pitches, Mathieu popped out to left, ending the rally for Keene and keeping it 0-0.

The worst part……had this game been played at Alumni, Mathieu would have most likely had a three-run homer.  

To say Albright was light-out was an understatement. Taking a no-hitter into the sixth, Albright gave up a single to Danny Ryan, a single that inevitably scored the Valley right fielder for the only run of the game.

After Ryan singled, Dakota Mulcay lined a grounder to Logan Mathieu. Mathieu, deciding to go for the double play, threw to shortstop Kevin Welsh.

The ball was dead on but skimmed off Danny Ryan’s shoulder, putting Ryan at second and Mulcay at first.

Albright, nearing his pitch count, then struck out Jos Lomuscio and walked John Marti.

For head coach Gary Calhoun, it looked like Albright was done. However, after pleading his case, Calhoun let Albright try to finish the inning.   

With bases loaded and one out, Albright struck out Carter Williams and looked primed to kill the rally in epic fashion.

Unfortunately, Richard Constantine, after a nine-pitch at-bat, walked and Danny Ryan scored from third and ending the Kent State righty’s night.

Keene would not lose the game without another potential rally. Following back-to-back singles from David Bedgood and Will Wagner, runners were in scoring position for Keene.

Kyle Ball, who was one for three on the night, then grounded into an unassisted fielder’s choice at third, Carter Williams tagging the base with his glove in a bang-bang play.

Still down 1-0, Keene dropped the final three outs as Rob Griswold, relieving for Luke Sweany, was flawless for 3 and 1/3 innings.

For both Keene and Valley, their bullpens were the highlights of the night with Valley using Griswold and Keene using Joseph Simeone and Cristian Sanchez.

Combined, the three relievers threw 5 and 2/3 innings of no-run ball.

For Keene, the loss is brutal, solely based on how many opportunities they had to score multiple runs.

Going into tonight’s epic game three of the series, Keene will most likely have David Johnson on the mound while Valley’s starter is a gigantic question mark.