Nighthawks Return Home For Rematch Against Mainers

By Thaddeus Sawyer

Less than a week ago, the Nighthawks (1-2-1) were stunned on Opening Day when the Sanford Mainers (3-2) scored five runs in the final three innings for a come-from-behind 5-4 walk-off victory in extra innings.

Now, six days later, the Nighthawks will get the chance to avenge that loss as the Mainers come to the Maxfield Sports Complex Wednesday night for the Nighthawks’ first in-division home game of 2026.

The Nighthawks come into Wednesday still searching for their first home win of the season as well as their first North Division victory. 

In their home opener against the Valley Blue Sox, the Nighthawks were on the wrong end of an uneven 14-6 score that would’ve looked more at home on the scoreboard over at Hartford High School’s football field than at the Max.

The Mainers, on the other hand, are coming off a 7-1 victory against the North Shore Navigators in Lynn, Massachusetts on Tuesday and haven’t lost a contest on the road this year.

Much of that success has come from an ability to keep runs off the board, as the Mainers’ pitching staff leads the league with a 2.35 ERA while collectively throwing the third most innings in the NECBL thus far.

UMass pitcher Drew Sliwkowski will be the next arm to try to keep the train moving, though he’ll need to out-pitch his results from this past spring to have a chance at keeping the Mainers in the game. In seven appearances (two starts), the southpaw pitched to a 14.40 ERA while allowing four or more earned runs three times. The sophomore never went more than 2 ⅓ innings.

Despite striking out an impressive 15 batters in 10 innings, the Maine native’s effectiveness was undermined by 14 walks and 13.5 hits allowed per nine innings.

Upper Valley will send one of the Conference of New England’s best pitchers from this spring, Anthony Bubba, to the mound. The right-hander, who announced Tuesday that he will be transferring to Quinnipiac to play Division I baseball, posted a 3.42 ERA across 11 appearances and 10 starts. Bubba struck out 63 batters in 68 innings on his way to a spot on the CNE All-Conference Second Team.

Bubba made his Nighthawks debut on Friday against Newport, tossing a scoreless inning in relief and punching out a pair of Gulls.

Offensively, Maryland first baseman Charley Magoulick got off to a blistering start for the Nighthawks on Tuesday, smacking a pair of doubles and leading the team in both hits and RBIs in his first game for Upper Valley.

James Love also extended his hit streak to four games to begin the summer and remains one of the hottest bats in the league.

For the Mainers, University of Maine shortstop Albert De La Rosa, who scored the winning run on Thursday, is sporting a 1.100 OPS.

Double play partner Jacob Harring has been an on-base machine. The Salve Regina sophomore has reached base in over half of his plate appearances, walking six times. Stony Brook outfielder Nick Zampieron is also getting on base at a .458 clip and is tied for the team lead in at-bats.

First pitch at the Max is scheduled for 6 p.m. The contest will stream live on ESPN+.