KEENE, NH - After splitting a set of two games against Ocean State on Friday, the Keene SwampBats put together their most dominant win of the 2025 campaign so far, beating divisional rival Sanford by a final score of 12-1. The Bats hit three home runs, their most in a game at Alumni Field so far this year, and poured it on in the later innings to seal the win.

RHP Ben Rabatin (Kent State) made his fourth start of the summer, and continued to succeed, dealing three innings of one run, one hit ball while walking five, but fanning seven. Three strikeouts came in the first inning, and Keene didn’t take long to get the run party started. LF Xavier Perez (Houston) continued his hot start at the plate, blasting a two-run homer in the bottom of the first to give Keene the lead. He followed that up with a solo shot in his very next plate appearance, and the game would be locked at 4-1 for the middle three frames.

SwampBats RHP Jake Hooker (Xavier) was the first reliever out of the bullpen, throwing two innings and striking out four. Andrew Lepine (Stetson) followed, as he went an inning and a third with a walk and a strikeout. Power righthanders Ben Dean and Todd Kniebbe combined to throw the final two and two thirds innings, with Dean sending three Mainers down on strikes, and Kniebbe adding two Ks of his own.

In the seventh and eighth, Keene put the game well out of reach with a combined eight runs in the last two frames. The highlight of the offensive eruption was C TJ Schuyler (Indiana) plating two with a single in the seventh, and mashing his first home run as a SwampBat to drive in three in the eighth. 

The Bats improve to 16-4 on the season, and find themselves with a six-game lead on the Upper Valley Nighthawks for the north division lead in the NECBL standings. Keene will head to North Shore on Sunday, June 29th for a doubleheader against the Navigators, a team they beat in walk off fashion earlier in the week. Sanford drops to 6-11 and moves into a tie for third place in the north division with Vermont.

Game one at North Shore is scheduled to begin at 1:30 PM, with game two slated to start 30 minutes after game one’s conclusion. Both contests will be streamed live on NECBL+.