Vermont’s 2025 season came to a close

KEENE, N.H.  – Vermont's 2025 season came to a close Wednesday night in an 8-2 loss to Keene.

The SwampBats' Ripken Reese played all nine positions in the field in a fun-filled finale to close the regular season.

 The Basics

Score: Vermont 2, Keene 8

Records: Vermont 16-28, Keene 32-12

Location: Alumni Field

Rapid Recap

Thomas "Tough Knuckles" Rosario started the season finale for Vermont and tossed four innings of one-run ball. He allowed three hits, walked five and struck out two. Seven of the first ten batters for Vermont went down on strikes as James Lordi made the start for Keene. Rosario left the bases loaded in the first after a hit by pitch, two walks and an infield single scored the game's first run. Elliot Miles reached on an error before stealing two bases in the second. A three-run blast off of Charles Forrest from Michael O'Brien made it 4-0 Keene in the fifth. Jason Pinsonnault tossed 1.2 scoreless innings with only one hit allowed plus a punchout. Andrew Bell homered to left against Marshall Donahue to plate two in the seventh. A double, an error, a hit by pitch, three walks and an RBI groundout plated two more to make it 8-0 Keene. Two Mountaineers that stayed with Vermont the whole summer helped score Vermont's first run. Matthew Minckler doubled to dead center to lead off the eighth, and Bennett Shealor's sacrifice fly scored Minckler after he stole third. Position players, third baseman Miles and catcher Brendan Buecker, worked a scoreless bottom of the eighth. Miles touched 89 on the radar gun as Buecker got the final out of the Mountaineers season for the pitching staff. Ripken Reese pitched in the ninth to finish off his trip around the diamond and outfield. He did allow a 367-foot solo-homer to Max LaLime, his first of the season.

Game/Season Notes
WP: James Lordi (1-0) | LP: Thomas Rosario (0-2)

Vermont stole three bags. They finished with 171 stolen bags in 2025. This is the NECBL record and the new number to beat in the league. They averaged 3.9 stolen bases per game.

Joey Pagano had two hits. The day one Mountaineer appeared in 42 of the 44 games this season, the most on the team. He had seven multi-hit games, finished with a .290 batting average and led the team in RBIs with 20.

Minckler notched his fourth double. He wraps up his season with 23 stolen bases.

The Mountaineers hit .227 as a team offensively in 2025, the tenth-best in the NECBL.

Vermont's team ERA was 4.98, the eighth-best in the league.

Jaylen Hernandez finished with the fifth-highest batting average in the NECBL among qualifying players at .323. Hernandez hit four homers, which led the team.

A special shoutout to Head Coach Kevin Smith, Broadcaster Director Molly Smith and Shealor who were at all 44 Vermont Mountaineers games this season.

Noah Hertzler, Buecker, Shealor, Minckler and Pagano were with the team from the start of the season and stayed the entire summer. Conlan Daniel missed the first two games as he was playing in the NCAA Tournament during the opening week of the season, and he stayed for the remaining 42 games.

Tank Yaghoubi had the team's best batting average as he slashed .364 in eight games with the team before transferring to Appalachian State from Elon.

Dom Camera and Christian Reyna were both mid-July pickups who helped improve the defense and hit well at the dish. Camera finished with a .275 average and nine RBIs in 19 games while Reyna hit .250 in nine contests.

Five position players finished with a 0.00 ERA. Foster Apple, Buecker, Camera, David Alvarez and Miles combined for 7.2 innings and allowed zero earned runs.

Oliver Pudvar finished 2025 with 15 innings of work and zero earned runs. The Mountaineers won all five games he started in.

Ryan Brown tossed the most innings on the pitching staff in 2025 with 35.2 innings on the mound. He struck out 39 batters.

66 different players appeared in a game for the Mountaineers this season.

Photo credit: Molly Smith, Broadcaster Director and Photography Intern 

Photo Description: General Manager Brian Gallagher and Head Coach Kevin Smith | Elliot Miles and Brendan Buecker swapping spots on the mound