Nighthawks Tie For First Time in Team History

By Thaddeus Sawyer

The Keene SwampBats pulled out all the stops during the Nighthawks’ road trip to New Hampshire on Tuesday.

Kids ran around behind the bleachers dueling with balloon swords. Others raced through a red, white and blue bounce house obstacle course. Wally the Green Monster was even there.

The only thing missing was a winner.

After trading runs in the 11th inning, the Nighthawks (1-2-1) and SwampBats (3-0-1) finished the contest deadlocked at 3-3. It was the first tie in Nighthawks history, according to the historical records on the team website.

“I've never tied a baseball game,” Nighthawks Manager Chase Allen said. “I've been playing since I was four. I mean, maybe there was a Little League [game], but not that I can remember.”

By NECBL rule, a game can only go a maximum of 11 innings, meaning that ties are a distinct possibility after nine. Tuesday’s outcome marked the second tie in the NECBL this season. The Nighthawks have now seen extra innings in two of their first four games.

It looked like the Nighthawks were going to head home with a win after a piece of clutch hitting from St. Joseph’s shortstop Tim Dickinson in the top of the 11th. With the ghost runner moved over to third after a Charley Magoulick groundout, Dickinson sent a laser the opposite way over the glove of a jumping Collin Anderson at shortstop. The liner left New jersey Institute of Technology designated hitter Cam Boardman scoring easily and the Nighthawks up one run.

“I think, first of all, just flushing my mind, no matter what day I had, good or bad,” Dickinson said. “Going up to the plate, I think everyone knows [SwampBats pitcher Nate Bassett] had a pretty big heater, probably in the mid 90s. So, I was like, ‘all right, I got to be on time for the heater.’ I just sold out, thought middle away, backside. 
That's exactly what I did.”

Bassett, who was the winning pitcher in Keene’s walk-off win against the Nighthawks in the playoffs last season, punched out three in 1 2/3 innings of work in this one.

With Dickinson’s RBI on the board, the Nighthawks were one out away from closing the book on the SwampBats. That changed in the blink of an eye, however, as Keene center fielder Luke Boykin ripped a double off the top of the wall to score the ghost runner, finding every last stitch of the baseball in the process.

While Brooks Craigue made a valiant effort in right field, smashing against the wall while trying to climb the chain link fence and finish off the win, the run left the Nighthawks in a peculiar situation. 

With the game tied in the bottom of the 11th and with no 12th on the horizon, the Nighthawks had no way of taking the lead and were thus playing in a game with no possibility of winning.

Earlier in the game, the newly arrived Magoulick made a strong first impression on his new teammates. The first baseman’s sixth-inning, two-run double into left turned out to be a crucial part of sending the game into extras in the first place.

Magoulick lined a ball to the left of SwampBats left fielder Micah Kendrick that bounced all the way to the wall, scoring both James Love and Boardman after a pair of free passes.

The Maryland transfer also had a second double in the eighth on a ball that just snuck its way onto the grass in center for a hit, leading the team in both hits and RBIs on the day.

“It was great,” Magoulick said. “It was great energy from the get go, and I just love playing the game, especially with good people.”

Both of Keene’s runs during the first nine innings came courtesy of sacrifice flys, as Anderson and first baseman Jackson Marshall each drove one deep enough to score a runner from third. Jackson’s flyout to right tied the game in the seventh.

After eating a hit by pitch in the first, the third for both teams through one frame, Marshall extended his on-base streak to 51 games. The streak dates back to the Huskies’ March 1 match-up against UNC Wilmington, after which point Marshall reached base in 46 consecutive games to finish his Spring.

Marshall nearly sent Keene fans home happy in the bottom of the ninth. With Jackson Smith walking and advancing to second on a Boykin groundout, the 6-foot-8 slugger stepped up to the plate with just one out and ready to do some damage.

Following a pair of long, looping swings, Marshall shortened up with a 2-2 count and tattooed a change-up in the direction of Love. Love, who said earlier this week that his goal this summer is to improve defensively, snared the ball in the air and recovered in time to fire to second for the double play after Smith made an unlucky read on the ball. The would-have-been game winner traveled 104 MPH off the bat, one of the hardest-hit balls in the NECBL so far this season.  

Despite a short 2 ⅓ inning outing that saw plenty of traffic on the bases, Bellarmine University right-hander Chase Chamberlain overcame command issues to keep the SwampBats on the board through the duration of his first start of the season. 

Duke starter Aiden O’Connell did the same through four innings, as the two teams continued to trade zeroes despite both teams placing runners in scoring position during the early innings.

Another player making his Nighthawks debut, Binghamton pitcher Vincent Luther, dealt in 1 ⅓ innings of work, striking out three in the eighth and keeping the SwampBats’ bats at bay as the game got late.

Stetson pitcher Brendan Walker did the same, inducing the Marshall line outin relief of Luther and escaping a bases loaded jam in the tenth.

Despite the extra two innings, the Nighthawks ended the day with just five hits. Virginia Tech utilityman William Hurt also notched a double, while Love extended his hit streak to four games to start the summer.

The Nighthawks won’t have to wait too long for a second chance at the SwampBats, as Keene will travel to the Maxfield Sports Complex on Thursday for Upper Valley’s first home game of the season series. They’ll also return again on Monday, making it three games in seven days against the two teams.

Next up, the Nighthawks will welcome the Sanford Mainers to the Upper Valley on Wednesday for a rematch of Upper Valley’s Opening Day extra innings loss. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. Fans can stream the game live on ESPN+.