White River Junction
Starting pitcher Dylan Verdonk gave up two home runs to two straight batters in the top of the second inning, and a total of five earned runs overall. Upper Valley didn’t have the hits to recover, and the Nighthawks dropped the second of a three-game stretch at the Maxfield Sports Complex, 8-5, to the Sanford Mainers on Saturday evening.
The loss dropped Upper Valley to 4-4 and left the Hawks tied for fifth in the NECBL’s Northern Division.
The Nighthawks have given up three home runs, 16 hits and 11 runs in the last two games. But more egregious is the offense, which has failed to take advantage of nine combined errors on opposing defenses.
Nighthawks hitters grounded into three double plays on Saturday and left six runners on base in the loss in front of an announced attendance of 489.
“The three lefties that we faced the past couple of nights, like tonight (Will Tribucher, Sanford’s starting pitcher), he’s their best guy. We knew he was good,” UV manager Nick Cenatiempo said. “We actually got into some good counts tonight; we just couldn’t generate anything or get anything going.
“I’m not worried,” he added. “This is our first weak skid.”
Upper Valley’s big guns, Joey Denison and Grayson Padgett, with batting averages ranked seventh and first in the NECBL respectively, combined for one hit and one RBI on Saturday.
Walker Grisanti, the outfielder from Vanderbilt in only his second game in a Nighthawk uniform, led the way with two hits and two runs scored in five at-bats. The Nighthawks scored three runs in the third inning on a two-error defensive play by the Sanford infield but didn’t score again until the bottom of the ninth.
Al Molina, the Seton Hall infielder who arrived in the Upper Valley an hour before game time, entered the contest in the ninth inning and hit a two-RBI double to give the Nighthawks their last two runs. Molina replaced Clemson’s Grayson Byrd in Upper Valley’s infield after Byrd, dealing with a back issue, went home for the summer.
“We just couldn’t lift any balls off this guy,” Cenatiempo said.
Cenatiempo also noted that starting shortstop Matt Maul is still dealing with a tweaked back from earlier this week. Maul, who batted second in the lineup against the Mainers, is 0-for-8 in the past two games.
“He’s not 100 percent,” the Nighthawks manager said. “He’s battling right now.”
Others are having their travails at the plate as well. Third baseman Blake Rowlett is 2-for-11 in his last three games. First baseman Charlie Concannon returned to the lineup on Saturday after a day off, walked twice and scored twice, but is still hitting .208 at the moment.
But as Cenatiempo acknowledged after the game, one of the Nighthawks’ biggest issues is the question mark at the leadoff spot in the lineup after trying Hanson, Maul and Sean Breen in that spot last week with no luck.
Cenatiempo hopes that Grisanti is the answer.
“I thought Walker could be that guy,” Cenatiempo said.
“You kind of saw that tonight; he sort of had his first game last night and then tonight, what do you see? You’re seeing production, you’re seeing swings. He’s a player, man.”
Verdonk, starting his first game for the Nighthawks, took the loss giving up four hits, two home runs, five earned runs, two walks and recording only one strikeout. The Seton Hall sophomore from the Netherlands said that things just got away from him in the second inning.
“I threw a lot of pitches in the first inning, I thought. So I wanted to be a little more aggressive in the second inning,” Verdonk said. “At some point, if I give up hits or home runs or whatever, I don’t really care. I want to go back into the game. I want to pick myself back up.
Wes Engle entered the game in the fifth and posted three strikeouts with three walks and two earned runs on four hits in 4 innings of relief. Joe Levasseur pitched the last 1 innings, allowing one hit and one walk and recording two strikeouts.
With UNCW infielders Brian Mims and Zack Canada arriving in Upper Valley on Saturday and the additions of Molina and Grisanti, Cenatiempo hopes the offensive woes can be solved quickly. The reinforcements at least give Upper Valley’s coaching staff a chance to give some of their struggling hitters a day off.
“This is when my job gets tough,” Cenatiempo said. “All the boys are here now.”
Bill Maier who pitched seven scoreless innings in a 7-2 victory at home against Winnipesaukee, will get the start against the Valley Blue Sox tonight at Maxfield. Game time is 5 p.m.
Josh Weinreb can be reached at jweinreb@vnews.com or 603-727-3306.
Correction
Nighthawks pitcher Dylan Verdonk gave up two home runs and a total of 5 earned runs in the team’s 8-5 loss against the Sanford Mainers on Saturday. An earlier version of this story overstated how many home runs he surrendered.