Nighthawks Set To Play a Pair Against Sharks

By Thaddeus Sawyer

Let’s play two!

The Nighthawks (3-3-1) will take the long trip to Martha’s Vineyard on Saturday to take on the Martha’s Vineyard Sharks (6-1) in a doubleheader. 

Carrying their first two-game winning streak of the season after taking down the North Adams SteepleCats on Friday, 5-1, the Nighthawks sit 1.5 games behind the Sanford Mainers (5-1) in the North Division. With a pair of wins, Upper Valley can make headway in the division regardless of the outcome of the Mainers’ Saturday contest against the Newport Gulls (3-4-1).

The Sharks won’t make that easy. They are in the top half of the league in both team batting average (.244) and slugging percentage (.328) and have struck out less than any other team.

Leading that charge is Clemson infielder Jackson Taylor, who has batted .471 through 17 at-bats with three extra-base hits. 

Northeastern outfielder Carter Bentley is tied with Taylor for the team lead in on-base percentage with a .571 mark.

Starter Eric Santaella (0-1, 22.50 ERA) and Bellarmine pitcher Chase Chamberlain (0-0, 0.00 ERA) will be the two starters tasked with keeping the Sharks at bay.

Both starters struggled to some degree in their first starts of the season, though Santaella fared far worse while being tagged for five runs in two innings of work against the Valley Blue Sox. Chamberlain walked three in 2 1/3 innings on Tuesday against the Keene SwampBats (4-2-1) but didn’t allow a run.

For the Sharks, the expected starters are Stetson left-hander Thomas Achey and Winthrop righty Walker Brodt. Achey has pitched three scoreless innings in two outings while Brodt struck out four in his first start of the year.

The Upper Valley offense is led by corner infielders James Love and Charley Magoulick and backstop Cam Boardman, who are all off to hot starts this summer and each carry an on-base mark of over .400 into play on Saturday.

First pitch for game No. 1 at Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. with game No. 2 scheduled to start 30 minutes after the end of game No. 1.

Both contests will stream live on NECBL+.