NORTH ADAMS, Mass. -- David Bedgood hit is ninth home run of the summer on Tuesday to lead the Keene Swamp Bats to a 5-1 win over the North Adams SteepleCats as Keene took over the lead in the NECBL Northern Division.

 

Hoosac Valley High School graduate Matt Koperniak went 3-for-4 and scored the lone run for North Adams, which fell to a half game behind the Swamp Bats in the divisional standings with three games left in the regular season.

 

North Adams (24-17) will play those three games on the road, starting with a double-header on Wednesday in Holyoke against a Valley Blue Sox team that starts the day in fourth place -- two games behind Keene and just 1-1/2 games in back of the SteepleCats.

 

The top three teams in each division make the New England Collegiate Baseball League post-season that gets underway on Friday.

 

On Tuesday, J.J. Sousa went 2-for-3 with an RBI for North Adams, which used two pitchers. Starter Mason Ronan started and took the loss in his eighth appearance of the summer.