Nighthawks Drop Home Opener Against the Blue Sox

By Thaddeus Sawyer

James Love stayed hot on Sunday night, picking up three hits as Upper Valley (1-2) dropped their home opener to the Valley Blue Sox (2-0-1), 14-6.

Putting up a multi-hit performance for the third straight game to start the summer, Love has now led the Nighthawks in hits in each of their first three games. After posting a .976 OPS for Eastern Illinois University this spring and earning a spot on the All-Ohio Valley Conference Second Team, Love hasn’t skipped a beat since arriving in the Upper Valley. 

“For me, it's like picking it right back up,” Love said. “I mean, I'm working hard, trying to get in the weight room the last two weeks to try and get the body ready again, but, you know, just trying to see how the body feels over these last couple of weeks. 
It felt good today.”

Love also picked up a pair of RBIs, tying for the team lead, with his third inning single scoring a pair. Through three games, the third baseman is slashing .615/.643/.923, leading the team in each category.

New Jersey Institute of Technology catcher Cam Boardman also had an RBI base knock in third, while Virginia Tech outfielder William Hurt did the same in the fifth. The Nighthawks also scored a pair of runs in the ninth on a passed ball and a sac fly from Hurt for his second RBI of the day.

Making his home debut, returning pitcher Eric Santaella struggled with control, issuing three free passes on his way to allowing five earned runs in two innings. The outing matched the right-hander’s shortest outing of the spring. While Santaella also went just two innings on May 1 against Southern New Hampshire University, that was due to Pace University looking to save him for the start of the Northeast 10 Conference Championship. 

Santaella didn’t give up a run in that game, and didn’t give up more than four earned runs in any appearance this past spring. While it looked like there was a chance the 19-year-old would battle back from a rough first with a quick second frame, shortstop Anthony Grabau crushed a two-out, 3-2 pitch over the right field wall, erasing any hopes of salvaging the start.

In the first, the Blue Sox scored four runs after the first four batters of the game reached base. Left fielder Chris Carson worked a four-pitch walk to push the first run across, while second baseman Jack Meyers and designated hitter Nick Tomasetto combined for the other three RBIs.

The Nighthawks also committed their first error of the season in the first inning when Dartmouth College utility man Alejandro Puig had trouble corralling a single off the bat of Grabau out in left field. It would end up being just one of four errors on the day for the Nighthawks and eight overall as both teams struggled to stay clean defensively.

The Blue Sox capitalized most on these miscues, as they scored five unearned runs off pitchers Nick Tamburro and Charlie Jones.

Meyers also picked up his second RBI on the day with a single in the seventh, while Tomasetto, third baseman Matt Wolfe and catcher Chris Cancel all added on in the ninth.

Being forced to use seven different arms to make it out of the contest, the bullpen was generally effective save for the unearned damage. Only Mason Phillips allowed an eaned run out of the pen, while University of North Carolina Wilmington reliever Jackson Caldwell and Molloy right-hander Artie Green each made scoreless Nighthawks debuts.

“Everybody's always trying to touch up something,” Tamburro said. 
”When we get out in a game, our primary focus is always just to get batters out. I know today we struggled a lot with locating, and that's the worst. That's like the worst feeling ever as a pitcher. We never want to be in a spot where you feel like you don't know where the ball is going. We had a couple guys who came off the mound today and said that they just didn't have their best stuff, but a lot of credit there to Valley, they hit the ball all day too.”

For the Nighthawks, Boardman picked up his second multi-hit game of the season while Hurt tied with Love for the team lead in RBIs.

Bellarmine outfielder Cole Huett stole both second and third after working a full count walk in the fourth, but St. Joseph’s University center fielder Alex Kelsey later got thrown out by Cancel at second for the final out of the inning to end the threat. Puig also swiped a bag.

The Nighthawks will have another off day on Monday before looking to rebound on Tuesday against the reigning league champion Keene Swamp Bats. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. The contest will be the Nighthawks’ first NECBL+ game of the season.