Mainers Suffer Worst Loss of Season in 19-3 Blowout at Keene
Keene takes season series over Sanford in an offensive explosion
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 1 |
|
|
0 | 0 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | X | 19 | 25 | 0 |
Written by Cole Purvis
Director of Broadcasting and Media
KEENE, N.H. - It was one of those nights the Sanford Mainers will want to forget even happened. The Moose were bludgeoned 19-3 by the Keene Swamp Bats on the road Saturday night, notching their worst loss of the season by a wide margin.
Before things went haywire, Sanford pushed across the game's first run. With runners on second and third, catcher Brennan Staubley lifted a pop-fly to center that brought Jack Tate in to score on a sac-fly.
But then, it was all Swamp Bats. The home side scored seven in the third inning, highlighted by homers from Avery Smith and Dylan Fitzsimmons. Sanford starter Bryson Thacker was chased after giving up all seven, with six of them earned, leaving reliever Josh Kopetski to finish the inning.
The Bats expanded upon their 7-1 lead in the fourth, putting up a four-spot against Kopetski.
Things continued to spiral when Ben Griffith took the mound for the fifth, as Sanford allowed three more, and the lead ballooned to 14-1 Keene. Fitzsimmons once again made his mark on a successful frame, hitting his second long-ball.
In the seventh, Micah Kendrick's three-run blast made it 17-1, and TJ Schuyler poured salt in the wounds with a two-run shot to make it 19-1.
The Mainers added two homers of their own in the eighth and ninth off the bats of Steven Kraus and Jackson Sirois, respectively. The final score was 19-3 in favor of Keene, plummeting Sanford into a three-game losing skid.
"You can't let it deter you. Yeah, it stinks, but you gotta stay strong, and we got knocked out tonight, but we gotta see how we can get back up," said manager Nic Lops.
The All-Star break arrives, but it's hardly a break for Sanford, as 11 players, along with the coaching staff, will be participating in the 2026 NECBL All-Star Game Sunday afternoon at Goodall Park. Steven Kraus participates in the Home Run Derby at 2 p.m. on NECBL+, with the game beginning at 5 p.m. on ESPN+.
The Mainers play their next regular season game at home on Tuesday against the Vermont Mountaineers.