By Josh Weinreb
White River Junction
Nighthawks manager Nick Cenatiempo described the St. Joseph’s University right-handed closer as “raw.” Lau, a converted catcher, is the first person to tell you he’s still learning the position on the fly. After Friday’s two-inning performance against the Valley Blue Sox, the rising senior finally has some confidence to go along with it.
“The reason why I (went to Lau) was because we were down,” Cenatiempo said. “I wanted him to get out there with not so much pressure on him, just kind of work his stuff, get back, get his confidence back. … Then the game tied up, he did a nice job so I sent him back out there again.”
Lau has been off-and-on with the Nighthawks this summer, throwing one inning and one strikeout in his Upper Valley debut against Winnipesaukee on June 12.
On June 14 against New Bedford, Lau made it through one strikeout before giving up one walk, two hits and two runs on four batters faced. Five days later at home against the Valley Blue Sox, he threw a strikeout and allowed three hits and an earned run in the Nighthawks’ 2-0 loss at home, sending Upper Valley to its third straight loss.
On Friday in Holyoke, Mass., Lau bounced back. Entering the game in the eighth inning, Lau held the Blue Sox’ offense at bay, giving the Nighthawks’ offense a chance to climb back into the game. Charlie Concannon hit a home run in the eighth and Upper Valley’s offense rallied to tie the game 4-4, forcing extra innings.
But after Lau allowed a hit and a walk in the 10th, Seton Hall’s Billy Layne relieved and gave up a walk-off two-run home run. The Nighthawks fell 6-4 in 10.
Lau allowed two runs, both earned, on a hit and a walk in 2 innings. Despite the rough ending, Lau felt good about his performance.
“It felt like I finally showed what I can do,” Lau said on Saturday. “No one will say anything like, ‘Oh, why is he here?’ Or anything like that. But it’s always in the back of your mind, because you want to prove to bunch of new guys that you’re here for a reason.”
“It had to happen eventually,” he added with a smile. “Especially after the last one, I made some bad two-strike pitches. They had two or three bloop hits that happened to find holes. That was kind of unlucky. So, every once in a while they have to find gloves.”
For Lau, this summer with the Nighthawks represents somewhat of a last chance to prove himself. The Oceanside, N.Y., native is headed into his final spring with St. Joseph’s. He threw only one inning last summer and pitched 13 innings this spring for St. Joseph’s.
“I’m really hoping to get a bigger workload here to get ready for next year, my first full season on the mound,” he said,
Lau and Layne are in somewhat of a tug-of-war for the Nighthawks closing role, though Lau is a natural closer and Layne is a converted starter. Cenatiempo said it’s a little too early to tell whether one is above the other on Upper Valley’s depth chart; neither have emerged as a go-to late-inning strikeout specialist. But for Lau, getting his feet under him four games in gives him something to build on.
“It’s good to get the confidence back up,” Lau said. “It’s definitely a mental game out there. … I think I locked down some mechanical things that were getting away from me that I can take with me into my next outing.”