North Adams, Mass. — Everything went according to plan for the Upper Valley Nighthawks and head coach Nick Cenatiempo, experimenting with an offensive-minded lineup as desperation to make up ground as the NECBL’s Northern Division begins to take shape in the regular season’s final stretch.

Joey Denison and Trent Leimkuehler teamed up for back-to-back RBI doubles in the top of the sixth inning for Upper Valley’s only two runs Friday’s 2-1 victory against the North Adams SteepleCats at Joe Wolf Field.

Upper Valley is now 14-21, seven games behind Northern Division leading Sanford and three games back from a playoff spot with nine games remaining.

“We haven’t had a win like that in a while,” Cenatiempo said in a phone interview after the game.

“It’s tough to win down here. It always has been. They came in, they played hard. We were kind of asleep early.”

Bill Maier, the Nighthawks’ ace, did his job, giving up only one earned on five hits in seven innings of work. Nick Jones, the sidearmer, sealed the deal, allowing only one hit in the final two innings.

Upper Valley only managed four hits in the victory, as Cenatiempo scrambled his lineup with the intention of improving the offense.

James Morisano, a catcher, played first base, Brian Lau, a pitcher, was Friday’s catcher and Grayson Byrd, a shortstop, played second base. Charlie Concannon was a pinch-runner in the ninth inning, but was mostly given the night off.

“It’s a risk, but it’s an offensive-minded risk that I took,” Cenatiempo said of his lineup changes. “I substituted late to get us back into more of a defensive minded look.”

“It’s a huge win for these guys,” he added. “It’s a huge start for Billy Maier. It’s a huge game. We’ve got some guys banged up, so we have to keep going.”

The Nighthawks will take on the Valley Blue Sox on the road at 6:30 tonight, trying to get their first win vs. the Blue Sox this season.

Ryan Takacs will be on the mound for Upper Valley.