By Joshua Koch
Holyoke Blue Sox Media Director

Two doubleheaders against the same team, which is a division rival, in the short time of three days is probably not the most preferred way to get games made up, but that’s the situation the Holyoke Blue Sox and Keene Swamp Bats find themselves in right now.
Th first doubleheader between the two squads was played on Saturday night at Alumni Field with the teams splitting the two games as Keene took the first game 8-4, and the Blue Sox responded with a 5-2 win in the second game.
The Keene Swamp Bats (15-8) took advantage of the smaller dimensions of Alumni Field on Saturday in the first game of the doubleheader as the Swamp Bats launched two long balls including a Grand Slam in the 8-4 victory.
The Blue Sox got on the board first via a wild pitch by Keene starting pitcher Scott Silverstein allowing Frank DeSico to come in and score making it 1-0 Holyoke.
But that lead would not last long as Brett DeLoach blasted his third home run of the season, which was a two-run shot, making it 2-1 Keene.
The Swamp Bats were not done with the round trippers as they would get to Blue Sox starter Chris O’Hare, who got tagged with the loss, in the bottom of the second inning with the bases loaded Alex Chittenden stepped up to the plate without a home run recorded this season yet. Chittenden picked the perfect time to break into that stat column as he crushed a ball to centerfield for his first home run of the season,  a grand slam, making it 6-1 Keene.
Silverstein, who got the win, got into a groove until the fifth inning when back-to-back walks would cost him as Trey Mancini stepped into the box and crushed the first pitch he saw over the centerfield fence making it 6-4. The home run is the fifth of the season for Mancini and he would finish the game 1-for-4 with three RBIs.
Those would be the final runs the Blue Sox would score, but Keene would tack on two more in the bottom of the fifth inning making it 8-4 which would be the final score of the game.
Following a short break in between the games, the second game got started exactly the same way the first did with Blue Sox second baseman DeSico scoring the first run of the game on a wild pitch from starter Whit Mayberry, who got the loss, making it 1-0 Holyoke.
Unlike the first game the Blue Sox (14-8) would tack one more run onto their lead as Mancini grounded out for the second out, but this drove in Sherrod to make it 2-0 Holyoke.
Despite gaining a quick lead, once again it was spoiled in the home half of the first inning as Keene scored two runs on a fielder’s choice and wild pitch making it 2-2.
The game would remain tied as both Desmond Paulson, Blue Sox starting pitcher who got the win, and Mayberry were both dealing until the fourth inning when Holyoke would take the lead via the home run ball.
Justin Ringo, who had not hit a home run all season long, knocked a solo blast out of Alumni Field in the fourth inning making it 3-2 Blue Sox, and they would add another run via the long ball in the sixth inning as well.
Tom Murphy, who just spent a week with Team USA, returned to the Blue Sox on Saturday and did so with a bang as he hit his first home run of the season as well making it 4-2 Blue Sox.
Following the game Murphy said he was just happy to start being able to produce for the team in a time that they needed it the most.
“Just trying to see the ball again, it’s been a while since I’ve had some quality at bats,” he said. “Finally got a pitch to drive the ball to center field, and that’s what I did with it.”
Holyoke would add another run in the seventh inning on a sacrifice fly to make it 5-2, which would be the final as Ryan Harvey came in and shut the door getting the save.
These two teams will meet again on Monday at Mackenzie Stadium in a doubleheader with the first game being the completion of the suspended game from June 15 followed by a full nine inning affair as well.
Holyoke will be back in action tomorrow against Mystic at 6:30 p.m.