NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The offense that let the Upper Valley Nighthawks down this time.
Upper Valley managed just four hits — only one after the firest inning — in a 5-1 NECBL loss to the undefeated North Adams SteepleCats at Joe Wolfe Field on Sunday night. The Nighthawks also committed an error and squandered a strong start from starting pitcher Will Carnley (Troy), falling to 1-3 through their first four games. It’s the worst start to a season in Upper Valley’s four-year history.
“Both the guys they threw, the first guy (Mason Ronan, Pittsburgh) was good. He shut us down there toward the end,” Upper Valley head coach Keller Bradford said. “The guy they threw out of the bullpen (Nicholas Payero, Seton Hall), he had us all night. There wasn’t a whole we could do — a lot of soft contact. A lot of pop-ups.”
Anthony Quirion (Lamar) knocked in the first run of the game, a two-out RBI single that brought Greg Hardison (UNC-Greensboro) home from third base. The Nighthawks stranded runners in scoring position in the second and third innings. They also struck out 14 times.
Carnley, in his first start of the summer, allowed one run on four hits and no walks through four innings, striking out five. Aaron Ernst (Wright State) pitched the fifth, giving up the game-winning run off of another four hits. Devin Beckley (Citadel) allowed a run and two hits in the sixth, and Aaron Haase (Wichita State) gave up two runs with a walk, a hit and three strikeouts in the seventh and eighth.
“I don’t think (Carnley’s) pitched in a while; he didn’t pitch a ton down the stretch for Troy,” Bradford said. “He looked great tonight. We’re going to be counting on him a lot this summer.”
The Nighthawks have struggled defensively through their first few games, entering their first full week with a league-worst .929 fielding percentage and a league-high 10 errors.
Upper Valley hosts the Keene Swamp Bats at the Maxfield Sports Complex on Tuesday.
CONCORD — Players from NHIAA Division IV semifinalists Sunapee and Woodsville accounted for a dozen of the 22 athletes selected for the Baseball Coaches Association of New Hampshire all-state teams.
Both the Lakers and Engineers earned six selections on the three Division IV teams. Sunapee’s Darren Hulton joined Woodsville’s Donny Bowman, Zach Moore and Brendan Walker on the first team; the Engineers’ Corey Bemis landed on the second team with Sunapee’s Gabe Hastings, Matt Nangeroni and Sean Shisko; and the Lakers’ Jackson Cooney and Harper Flint joined Woodsville’s Bill Green and Patrick Reardon-Estes on the honorable mention squad.
Woodsville went undefeated this past season to earn the top seed in the NHIAA Division IV tournament, while Sunapee lost only twice in 16 regular-season games. Both teams advanced to the D-IV semifinals before having their campaigns come to an end.
Hanover had four representatives and Lebanon three on the Division II all-state team. The Marauders placed Joey Perras and Nolan Gantrish with Lebanon ace Kyle Pelletier on the first team; the Raiders’ Trey Chickering made the second team with Hanover’s Kegan Silovich and Jack Loftus; and Lebanon’s Caleb Smith was an honoable mention choice along with Stevens’ Derrick Stanhope.
Mascoma had two players on the Division III all-state team, Michael Evans on the second unit and Devin Tetreault on the honorable mention squad.