White River Junction
“I hadn’t really thought about it,” Denison responded.
“Well, if you want to come play,” the Nighthawks GM said, “We need you up here ASAP.”
That was a week ago. Denison, who said he scrambled to get his things together after Crane’s initial phone call, arrived in the Upper Valley on Monday afternoon, joining his team just after its first practice together at Maxfield Sports Complex following a 22-hour car ride from Alabama.
The senior outfielder from Troy, Ala., who will start in left field for Upper Valley when it opens its inaugural season tonight on the road against the NECBL-champion Vermont Mountaineers at the Montpelier Recreation Fields, made it just in time.
“The opportunity (with the Nighthawks) is going to make me better for next season,” said Denison, who transferred to Troy from Southern Union State Community College. “I can see that all the work is starting to pay off. Having the success from all the work and people are starting to take notice of it.”
Denison is one of several power hitters featured on a Nighthawks roster that is still very much in flux. On paper, Upper Valley is loaded with talented hitters, including Iona’s Sean Breen, St. Joseph’s Charlie Concannon and Saint Louis University’s Trent Leimkuehler, and features several consistently strong pitchers in La Salle’s Luke Reilly, Billy Layne, a 37th-round pick of the Texas Rangers from Seton Hall, and former NECBL All-Star Dakota Edwards, of the University of Bridgeport. Reilly, a lefty, has been tabbed with the start on the mound tonight.
“The team looks great,” Reilly said. “I was following a bunch of the players throughout the year, they seem like they have a lot of talent. I’m not just here to have fun, I’m here to win.”
But perhaps some of the Nighthawks’ best players are still on their way, including UNCW offensive stars Brian Mims and Zack Canada, Seton Hall ace Cullen Dana and Vanderbilt young gun Walker Grisanti. Mims, Canada and Grisanti should be arriving at some point next week. Dana, slated to be the Nighthawks’ ace, is dealing with an injury, but is expected to make an appearance this summer.
The Nighthawks finished their second practice together Tuesday afternoon at Maxfield, going over the basics of bunt defense and other situational strategies. For Upper Valley head coach Nick Cenatiempo, getting his players acclimated with their coaches, their surroundings and their teammates is essential, especially in the first few days.
“It’s tough because I just got back from coaching 50-plus games and they just got done with playing 60-plus games, so you have to sort of understand that they’re recharging their batteries and meet them halfway,” said Cenatiempo, who is a pitching coach at SUNY Cortland in the spring and managed under Crane with the NECBL’s Laconia Muskrats last summer. “You have to manage their workload so that we can meet in the middle a little bit.
For the Nighthawks brass, all early-season eyes are on Clemson infielder Grayson Byrd, who will start at shortstop for the Nighthawks tonight. Byrd, a sophomore, transferred to the Tigers from LSU and was forced to sit out this spring because of NCAA transfer rules. Cenatiempo said he’s eager to see how Byrd responds offensively early this season.
In a similar boat is Layne Jr., from Seton Hall, who sat out this season with an off-the-field issue.
“It’s been over a year since I’ve been able to help a team win games,” Layne said. “My last outing was in high school, which was over a year ago. To be back on the field with another set of guys, I can’t wait.”
The surroundings, the players noted, are still unfamiliar. All 17 players at the Nighthawks’ first two practices said they’ve never been this far north. Cincinnati pitcher Jared Yoakam said he’s never been to the East Coast. The opportunity to play in the NECBL, however, was too good to pass up.
“Whenever you think of the East Coast, you think of the Cape (Cod League) and this,” Yoakam said. “I’ve heard a bunch of good things, a bunch of good players and good competition.”
For Saint Louis outfielder Trent Leimkuhler, at least, it hasn’t taken long to settle in.
“I had a couple of buddies from our team (Saint Louis) play up here and they loved it,” Leimkuhler said. “They love the atmosphere, the fans and all the people that support it.”
The first few weeks of an NECBL season, Cenatiempo said, are the easiest; putting together simple lineups just to measure the strengths and weaknesses of each player is the easy part. As players from around the country continue to trickle in, Cenatiempo’s job becomes harder to manage.
But at least in the first few weeks, getting a few victories under their belt is a good place to start. For a new team, getting off on the right foot is crucial.
“In the end, Brian Mims isn’t here, (Zack) Canada isn’t here, Matt Maul isn’t here. So some of these guys who are going to be battling to play, aren’t here yet,” he said. “So therefore, the decision on who to play is a lot easier because that’s all we got. They’re going to play and we’ll figure it out.
“When the other guys come, that’s when my job gets tougher, because when Brian Mims comes, he’s going to play. So we have to figure it out.”
Notes: When Cincinnati’s Yoakam heard he was coming to Vermont for the summer, he started making a list in his head. “I really want to see Boston,” he said. “I want to see Fenway, obviously for historical reasons. But, it’s funny, I really want to try that real maple syrup.” … The Nighthawks signed Manhattan College freshman pitcher Ryan Takacs early this week. Takacs was 0-4 in five starts for the Jaspers, accumulating a 9.26 ERA. … Game time for tonight’s season opener is 6:30 p.m.
Josh Weinreb can be reached at jweinreb@vnews.com or at 603-727-3306.