A 7-3 victory for the Keene Swamp Bats Wednesday night brought the Laconia Muskrats’ storybook season to a close, and crowned the Muskrat’s New Hampshire neighbors NECBL Champions.
Keene’s high-powered offense got its revenge on Laconia’s Chris Costantino (Walters St CC), who no-hit the Swamp Bats on July 17th. Costantino ran his hitless innings streak against Keene to ten with a 1-2-3 first frame. But in the second, hot-hitting Brett DeLoach (U Georiga) set the tone against Costantino, homering to lead off the inning. Keene had their first hit.
They would add another run in the inning, another homer in the third, and a run-scoring triple in the fourth for a 4-0 lead. Costantino got his second 1-2-3 inning of the game in the fifth, and then the rains came.
The game moved into a 45-minute rain delay, which would be the end of Costantino’s night. Swamp Bats’ starter Whit Mayberry (U of Virginia) waited out the rains and went out for the sixth.
His first pitch when play resumed was the only offense Laconia would get, as Kevin Mortimer (Trinity) took the ball out of the yard for his first home run of the season. Mayberry rebounded to strikeout the next three hitters.
Keene added a three-run seventh inning, which included DeLoach’s second home run on the night, and sixth of the postseason.
Costantino’s swan song lasted five innings, with five hits, four earned runs, two walks and eight strikeouts. He finishes with a League-high 80 strikeouts on the summer, nine away from the NECBL record. Costantino will report to St. Loius Cardinals’ Rookie ball as a pitcher on Friday in Florida.
Mayberry struck out 11 Muskrats, a high for Keene this season and four off of Costantino’s League-high from July 23rd. Mayberry picked up his second postseason win, and allowed his first and only run of the playoffs. Every Muskrat hitter struck out at least once in the game, as the team was limited to four hits.
Laconia finishes with a postseason record of 4-2, making them 22-26 overall in 2011. They team won a postseason game for the first time in its short, two-year career, swept the top-seeded Newport Gulls out of the first round for the first time in their history, and went on to be the 2011 Eastern Division Champions. The Muskrats certainly exceeded all expectations this season.
Check back in the coming weeks for more perspective and review of the 2011 Laconia Muskrats season! Thanks to all who supported the team throughout the summer, and expect more great Muskrats baseball in the City by the Lake next season!
