Montpelier
Newcomer Austin Wilhite, a Georgia Tech shortstop, hit a two-run double in his first at-bat with the club, helping the Nighthawks to a 7-3 victory over the Vermont Mountaineers on Wednesday at Montpelier’s Recreation Field. Wilhite, who was added to the Upper Valley roster this week, and went 1-for-3 with three RBIs, a run scored and a walk in his New England Collegiate Baseball League debut.
“Good to see the bats come alive the last couple of games,” Upper Valley Nighthawks head coach Jason Szafarski said. “Hopefully we can carry it into a tough division game against Keene.”
The victory gave Upper Valley a 2-0 advantage over Vermont in the Governor’s Cup series — the regular-season series between the two Green Mountain State clubs for a silver milk jug trophy. The Nighthawks won the Governor’s Cup in 2017, and have outscored the Mountaineers (6-16) 10-4 in two meetings this summer.
Upper Valley built a 6-0 lead in the first three innings, chasing Vermont starter Ross Mintzer (Lock Haven) after 1⅔ innings.
Drew Tipton (Arkansas State) got the Nighthawks started in the first inning. He got on base with a lead-off walk, stole second, advanced to third on a balk by Mintzer and scored on a wild pitch.
Upper Valley added four more in the second on three consecutive doubles. Wilhite, in his first at-bat with the club, launched a two-run double into right field. Hunter Gibson (Wichita State) followed up with an RBI double, scoring Wilhite from second base. Anthony Meduri (Binghamton) followed up with a double into center field that scored Gibson.
Wilhite added to it with a sacrifice fly in the third inning, scoring Ross Cadena (Wichita State) from third base. Cadena’s RBI single added an insurance run in the seventh inning, scoring Anthony Quirion (Lamar) from third.
Five Upper Valley pitchers allowed three runs on eight hits and seven walks in the victory. Cole Stetzar (Saint Joseph’s) got the start, allowing no runs on five hits and two walks. Stephen Hansen (Iona) got the win, allowing no hits, runs or walks in two innings. Wes Bucher (West Georgia), Alvin Melendez (Fordham) and David Sampson (Plymouth State) all made appearances on the mound for Upper Valley.
The win once again gave Upper Valley (11-10) an above-.500 record after spending the last week on a four-game losing streak. The Nighthawks entered the contest with Vermont 2-7 in their last nine games.
The skid also has made for a tight race for third place in the NECBL’s Northern Division standings a between the Keene Swamp Bats (11-11) and the Nighthawks headed into the regular season’s second month. The two teams meet today at 6:30 p.m. at the Maxfield Sports Complex; the Swamp Bats have won both games between the two teams this season.
White River Junction 8, Brattleboro 3
Brattleboro, vt.
Kyle Hamilton started the game on the mound for Post 84 but Alex Bushway got the win, allowing three hits, one walk and no runs in three innings of relief.
WRJ broke the game open with four runs on three hits and two walks in the fourth inning, three of which came on Trimble’s double. He finished the game 3-for-3 with a single, a double, a triple and two runs scored.
Post 84 (7-3 league) hosts a doubleheader with Lakes Region Post 50 on Saturday. Game 1 begins at 3 p.m. at the Maxfield Sports Complex.