White River Junction
Upper Valley, playing the first game of a doubleheader as the visitors against the Ocean State (R.I.) Waves, suffered a 7-6 loss when the erstwhile hosts singled home the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning.
The Nighthawks won the nightcap at the Maxfield Sports Complex, 6-1, improving their record to 7-3. They’re off today and visit the Mystic (Conn.) Schooners on Tuesday before hosting the Valley Blue Sox on Wednesday and the Keene Swamp Bats on Thursday.
“We’ve got a good, deep team,” said second-year manager Jason Szafarski. “We can give guys days off when they need them, which was something we couldn’t always do last year.”
The first game didn’t begin well for Upper Valley and its starting pitcher, Sadler Goodwin, from Troy (Ala.) University. The righthander was 3-4 with a 6.95 ERA during 33⅓ innings for the Trojans, but surrendered four hits and four runs, all earned, during a summer debut that lasted only two frames.
Goodwin, who also plays third base, recorded no strikeouts and walked two Waves. He threw a wild pitch and surrendered a two-run home run to Dylan Resk that put Ocean State, playing as the home team in game one, up by a 4-1 score after two innings.
“We just have to get him comfortable on the mound again,” said Szafarski, noting that the plan was for Goodwin to pitch three innings at most. “He’s just got to get ahead of batters, but today he wasn’t able to locate his breaking ball. He hasn’t thrown in a game in probably a month.”
Upper Valley’s Anthony Quirion (Lamar) delivered a two-run single in the third inning to pull the Nighthawks within 4-3. They went up, 5-4, during the next inning when Eric Feliz (Notre Dame) delivered a sacrifice fly and scored Christopher Berry (North Florida) and Drew Tipton (Arkansas State) singled in Ross Cadena (Wichita State).
Ocean State moved ahead, 6-5, during the fifth when reliever Stephen Hansen’s outing came apart at the seams. The Iona (N.Y.) College product issued a walk, a double and a single. The Nighthawks created a 6-6 tie during the sixth inning. Berry singled, took second on a Cadena sacrifice bunt and scored on a Tipton single.
Szafarski, who coaches third base, admitted he gambled in sending Berry. The Seminole, Fla., native was beaten home by an outfielder’s throw but dove wide and to the inside of the plate, sweeping a hand across the dish.
“We needed a run and I took a chance in the moment,” the manager said. Berry’s “foot hit third with the ball in the outfielder’s glove and I thought we were dead in the water, but he made a great slide.”
Upper Valley went down in order during the seventh. Ocean State (6-5) got a one-out single from Ryan Ward, who moved to second on a hit batsman and scored the winning run when Sonny Ulliana smacked a ball to the right-field fence.
The second game didn’t begin well for Upper Valley, either, which trailed, 1-0, after an inning. However, the Nighthawks scored three runs during the second inning and added one each during third, fifth and six frames. Gregory Harrison (UNC-Greensboro) had two singles during the first game and two triples during the second contest, continuing to impress his boss.
“His approach to hitting plays perfectly to using a wooden bat,” Szafarski said. “He can hit to all fields and I don’t think he’ll stop hitting, because he doesn’t swing and miss. He’s not your typical (third) hitter but he had a knack for driving in runs.”
Cole Stetzer of St. Joseph’s (Penn.) University was outstanding in his third pitching appearance of the season. He allowed five hits and one earned run while striking out four Waves and walking none. Hartford High product and Southern New Hampshire hurler Jordy Allard allowed one hit and one walk but no runs during the seventh inning.
“Cole gave us six good innings and saved the day, because we were running out of pitchers,” said Szarfski, whose team has played six games during the last six days.
Tipton entered the day with a team-best .412 batting average and three strikeouts in 27 at-bats. The infielder had two hits in the first game and struck out three times during the second.
Notes: The latest Nighthawk to roll into town is Vanderbilt pitcher A.J. Franklin. His Commodores were recently eliminated by Mississippi State in super regional action. … Danny Wirchansky, a 2017 Nighthawks pitching standout, is expected to be back playing with the team by July 1, Szarfski said. Wirchansky, from New York’s Pace University, is nearly finished rehabilitating from an injury. … Charlie Concannon, a gregarious presence on the Nighthawks’ 2016 team, was released Sunday by the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox of the Cape Cod League. That circuit is considered the best collegiate wooden-bat league in the country. Also released Sunday was pitcher Ashton Raines, who’d been with the CCL’s Brewster Whitecaps. Raines, who pitched for the Nighthawks last season, should rejoin them soon, said general manager Noah Crane, who noted he doesn’t have room in the outfield for Concannon. … Shortstop Riley Smith (Minnesota) wears a neoprene mitten reinforced with metal strips when he runs the bases. Smith said it’s a preventative move and that he’s never suffered a hand or wrist injury sliding or diving. … Temperature at the doubleheader’s start was 86 degrees. … The blow-up bovine kept in the Nighthawks’ bullpen and waved around by reliever Jordan DiValerio when the Upper Valley offense comes alive has been named “Lucy the Rally Cow”. … Upper Valley first baseman David Mikell said he was removed from last summer’s Vermont Mountaineers roster after attending a Boston Red Sox game that conflicted with a Mountaineers contest. Davis said he had requested and received permission from the Vermont coaching staff but that management felt otherwise. … Last year’s Nighthawks bullpen was known for general rowdiness and games of cards and smash ball during Upper Valley contests. This season’s group has not shown such proclivities, but returnee David Sampson (Plymouth State) has faith things will liven up. “It’s early,” Sampson said. “We’ve got some weirdos down there.”. … Demand for the roughly 20 seating spots flush against the Maxfield backstop is spiking. The entire strip was covered with lawn chairs by 2 p.m. Sunday, holding spots for fans who had dropped by earlier to stake a claim. … Crane said the beer truck usually at Nighthawks games was absent Sunday because its proprietor took it to the Quechee Balloon Festival instead. The general manager said the truck should be available for all remaining Upper Valley contests this summer.
Tris Wykes can be reached at twykes@vnews.com or 603-727-3227.