Swamp Bats blowout Bristol

After snapping a six-game losing streak by picking up a win over the Valley Blue Sox, the Blues were looking to win two in a row but the defending Fay Vincent Sr. Cup champions put Bristol right back in the loss column. 

In the bottom of the second inning, a couple of singles paired with a Blues error allowed the Swamp Bats to jump out to an early 3-0 lead. Jackson Marshall (UConn) doubled that with one swing as he blasted a ball over the left field wall for a three-run home run to make it 6-0 Swamp Bats at the end of the second inning.  

Justin Ruiz (High Point) responded with a solo home run to get Bristol on the board and cut the lead to five. However, Keene answered right back and tacked on one more in the bottom of the third to get the lead back to six runs. 

In the bottom of the fifth inning, future Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket Eli Stephens, followed up Marshall's home run with a three-run bomb of his own to make it a 10-1 Swamp Bats lead. Bristol got one back in the top of the sixth inning but Keene once again responded with a run in the bottom of the inning. The Swamp Bats tacked on two more in the seventh and one more in the eighth as they cruised to a 15-2 victory. 

The six-run second inning was too big of a hole for Bristol to dig themselves out of. The Swamp Bats outhit the Blues by 14 and three errors committed by Bristol didn't help either. While the pitching staff didn't have their best performance, the offense didn't exactly show up for Bristol either as they only had three hits. 

The Blues are back home tomorrow against the Valley Blue Sox. First pitch is set for 11:30 a.m. 

Written by Ryan McKenna