Keene, n.h.
Denison did it again late in the nightcap, erasing the bad taste of an 8-7 walk-off loss in game one with a two-run homer in the top of the eighth inning of game two, 4-2, for a twinbill split. Upper Valley has had trouble winning games of late, going 2-11 over the last three weeks. But with Saturday’s 8-4 win over the Sanford Mainers and another victory now in their back pockets three days later, the Nighthawks still feel like they’re on the right track heading into this season’s final stretch.
“Worst-case scenario, you want to split,” said Nighthawks head coach Nick Cenatiempo. “That’s the thing, you needed to take at least one game today. The fact that we had two right in our laps is a little discouraging. The fact that we had a 7-3 lead in the last few innings (of the opener) and couldn’t finish was very discouraging. But they battled back and won the second game. At least we got one.”
Upper Valley is 12-20, last place in the NECBL’s Northern Division heading into a busy week against a string of divisional opponents. But a come-from-behind victory in game two, thanks to some late-game heroics by Denison, helped start the confidence rebuild of a team that has, for the most part, had trouble this summer manufacturing wins.
“We really didn’t want to let two slip away tonight,” Denison said. “That would just be disheartening, getting walked off twice in the same day. It was good that we got that win. We had ourselves kind of a walk-off win (of our own).”
The Nighthawks will host the Winnipesaukee Muskrats tonight at Maxfield Sports Complex, with Troy University’s Houston Mabray making his fifth start of the summer.
Upper Valley looked desperate in game one coming off the NECBL all-star break in front of an announced attendance of 1,181, particularly as things started to unravel in the later innings. After a strong start from St. Anselm’s Joe Levasseur, his first as a Nighthawk, Upper Valley rotated four different relievers onto the mound even with a slate of seven games in six days this week. Using up the bullpen so early in the week wasn’t exactly ideal for Cenatiempo.
“That’s why I had a quick hook with them, so that we can still have them available for the rest of the week,” Cenatiempo said. “I wanted to go with whoever was throwing well.”
The starting role is something Levassuer was excited to showcase.
“We have so many games in a row right now,” he said. “It was like, ‘Alright, we need a guy.’ I was happy to step up.”
The Nighthawks built a 7-3 lead lead after four innings, powered by a four-run fourth inning that broke a 3-3 tie. Upper Valley loaded the bases twice in the fourth inning and brought home James Morisano, Walker Grisanti, Grayson Byrd and Austin Embler in the rally.
But Keene responded with four runs in the final three innings of regulation, tying the game in the sixth inning off a sacfrice fly to left by Dom Iero that allowed Tommy LaCongo to score from third. Iero ended game one with a game-winning RBI single scored Garrett Christman from second in the bottom of the eighth inning.
Nick Jones took the loss, pitching the final two innings in relief. Avery Fliger, Mike Coss and Brian Lau were all used in relief of Levasseur, each going less than an inning.
“(Levassuer) did fine. He gave us what he could,” Cenatiempo said. “Joe Levassuer has earned it when you look at how he’s thrown. With how many games we have this week, you need someone to step up for you. He pitched well.”
Dylan Verdonk started game two for Upper Valley, giving up four hits, two earned runs and a walk through 4 innings of work. The Swamp Bats used its momentum from game one to take a 2-0 lead in the second inning.
The Nighthawks answered in the fourth inning on a two-run home run by Trent Leimkuehler that sailed into deep center field to tie the game 2-2. Both teams remained scoreless until extra innings.
Denison’s home run in the eighth sealed the deal offensively. But it was Wes Engle who shut the door, going the final three innings. He allowed two hits and a walk, recording four strikeouts for the victory. The Nighthawks only needed to use three pitchers in game two, with Jarod Yoakam facing only one batter in the fifth inning.
“It’s never good to get swept by a team,” Denison said. “We didn’t get swept, which is good. We retained a little bit of momentum. And we won the second one, so we got a little bit of momentum heading into tomorrow.”
Notes: Grayson Byrd, from Clemson, made a shaky return to the Nighthawks lineup on Tuesday afternoon, going 1-for-6 with two strikeouts and two fielding errors as Upper Valley’s starting shortstop for both games. Byrd played four games for Upper Valley in the beginning of the season, batting 1-for-11 with a .091 batting average before heading home with a back injury. He missed 26 games. … Denison said the NECBL All-Star game was well worth it. “It was really fun to meet all the other guys from the other teams and kind of get to know them a little bit. We’ve played against them and we know who they are, but we really didn’t get to know them at all.” … Upper Valley is 2-1 against Winnipesaukee this season.
Josh Weinreb can be reached at jweinreb@vnews.com or 603-727-3306.