White River Junction
Upper Valley shrunk back into its old habits against the Northern Division-leading Sanford Mainers at Maxfield Sports Complex, an 11-2 loss that puts the Nighthawks at 13-21 with 10 games remaining in the expansion team’s inaugural season.
Defensive errors, scattered hits and a carousel of struggling pitchers have put Upper Valley into a hole with a string of four games in four days on the horizon.
“We didn’t hit well, we didn’t pitch well and we didn’t play good defense,” head coach Nick Cenatiempo said frankly, citing fatigue due to a ruthless schedule as the main reason for his team’s sudden drop-off 24 hours after putting together one of its best games of the year.
The Nighthawks’ struggles came to a head in the seventh inning as Sanford scored four runs on four hits to add to an already comfortable lead. Nighthawk reliever Billy Layne Jr. allowed a two-run double to the Mainers’ Mike Landestoy, scoring Shaine Hughes and Todd Czinege to end the Seton Hall product’s night after one inning. Reliever Jarod Yoakam allowed back-to-back RBI hits later in the inning, blowing the game wide open for the Mainers.
Cordes Baker (3-2) took the loss for Upper Valley, allowing three earned runs, two walks and five hits in five innings.
“One thing that’s definitely going on is my fastball is not sinking as much as it used to,” Baker said. “I don’t know if that’s coming from fatigue or what, but that’s the main thing. … It’s probably mechanics. It’s probably me just being lazy and not thinking about what I’m doing.”
The Mainers’ struggling hitters did most of the damage. Daniel Wilson, heading into Thursday’s game batting .030, was 3-for-3 with two walks, three runs scored and an RBI. Johnny Slater, batting .176 for Sanford, was 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI.
Upper Valley scattered eight hits, getting predictable production from familiar names. Joey Denison was 2-for-5, and Alex Hanson was 2-for-3 with a run scored and a walk. The Nighthawks stranded 10 runners.
“It’s definitely frustrating,” Nighthawks first baseman Charlie Concannon said. “Their pitchers threw pretty well for the most part. We had guys hitting the ball too, but with runners in scoring position … we didn’t come through with two-out RBIs. Two-out RBIs wins games.”
Concannon popped up into the infield with two outs and the bases loaded in the third after Sanford took a 3-1 lead in the top of the inning.
“That’s the stuff you need to execute to put up runs,” he said. “That changes the complexion of the game because they jumped out to an early lead and we weren’t able to fight back early enough. It kind of snowballs from there.”
But pitching let the Nighthawks down Thursday night as Sanford amassed 13 hits, including two doubles. The Mainers won their fourth straight game as they continue to pull away from the rest of the Northern Division. Cenatiempo knows the loss was one in which his team can’t afford to take this late into the season.
“I wouldn’t say he (Baker) pitched poorly tonight, I just would say he was as clean as he usually is,” Cenatiempo said.
“They have some good veteran hitters. Some of those guys in the middle of the lineup will hurt you. They’re in first place in a reason, they’re playing well too. They jumped him.”
Nighthawks shortstop Al Molina was 0-for-4 with four strikeouts. He also committed two errors. Upper Valley went the final 4 innings of Thursday’s game without a hit until Brian Lau, the Nighthawks’ closer pinch-hitting for Molina, hit a single in the ninth inning. Denison, the next batter, grounded into a double play to end the game.
“We’ve been playing a lot. That’s what happens,” Cenatiempo said. “It’s going to happen. You just have to turn the page quickly.”
Upper Valley will take on North Adams on the road at 6:30 tonight. Bill Maier will get the start for the Nighthawks.
Notes: Grayson Byrd sat out his second straight game after a tough night Tuesday in a doubleheader against the Keene Swamp Bats. … Wes Engle and Lau, both pitchers, were inserted into the lineup as pinch hitters in the ninth inning. … Billy Layne made his first appearance since July 12 in the sixth inning, giving up four earned runs, two walks and three hits in an inning.
Josh Weinreb can be reached at jweinreb@vnews.com or 603-727-3306.