Nighthawks Get One Step Closer to Governor's Cup With Victory Over Vermont

By Thaddeus Sawyer

Though Wednesday’s game against the Vermont Mountaineers marked the quarter point of the season, the Nighthawks did something they hadn’t done all year: score double-digit runs.

Of course, that’s not a difficult task when eight of those runs come in just one inning.

The Nighthawks (5-5-1) exploded for eight runs in the top of third inning en route to a 13-6 win over the Mountaineers (5-7), taking an early lead in the 2026 Governor’s Cup series.

“Hitting is contagious, always,” Nighthawks infielder Frank Kelly said. “So, when you put up an eight spot and we batted around with nobody getting out, it's really contagious.”

In the third, the Nighthawks sent 10 batters to the plate before recording an out, with first baseman Charley Magoulick both leading off the inning with a shallow single in center and recording the first out with a hard liner to the same spot.

Loading the bases on three straight singles to begin the frame, Alex Kelsey pushed the first run across with a little help from second baseman Brayden Leonard. Though Leonard fielded a sharp grounder off of Kelsey’s bat cleanly, his throw home missed the mark and found the dirt in front of the plate, allowing Magoulick to score.

Shortstop Alejandro Puig followed that up with a bases-clearing double that ended up dying on the gravel warning track in the left field gap after left fielder David Alvarez took a poor angle toward the ball.

Though that extra-base hit chased starter Nick Falla from the contest, the Nighthawks would go on to reload the bases and score four more runs. Kelly and James Love each had RBI base hits, both on screaming line drives into right field. Nick Quagliato also added a sacrifice fly in addition to a pair of knocks.

Kelly’s single was just a small part of a huge performance, serving as the third act of a four-hit outing that saw the shortstop pace the Nighthawks in both hits and RBIs.

“Me and [Quagliato] were actually talking about [not] getting a few hits and kind of slowing down throughout the game, but, instead, trying to go back up there like it's your first at-bat,” Kelly said. “Just keep being hungry.”

The eight-spot erased an early three-run deficit from the first inning that came from a home run over the Sherwin-Williams advertisement high on the left field wall off the bat of third baseman Tyler Jones.

After allowing the early home run, Nighthawks starter Anthony Bubba settled in a big way, throwing four straight zeros on the board including a pair of perfect innings in the second and third.

“Me and [catcher Cam Boardman] going into it, normally I'm slider heavy, but we saw they were kind of sitting [on] it,” Bubba said. “Their scouting report was really good. Being able to have a good cutter and a change up just allowed me to be able to get past hitters and just get those weak contact outs.”

Before the big third, the Nighthawks scored a pair of runs on Kelly’s second single of the day in the second inning to pull within one.

The Nighthawks would also put up three insurance runs with some strong base running.

While the Mountaineers would score three runs across the sixth and seventh innings off reliever Artie Green, one earned, that output registered as more of a weak scratch after the dent of a third inning that preceded.

High Point reliever Charlie Jones also tossed a pair of scoreless innings to finish the game.

At the plate, Puig tied Kelly for the team lead with three RBIs.

All but one member of the starting lineup ran into a base hit.

Kelly, Quagliato, Kelsey and William Hurt all swiped a bag.

After moving into third in the North Division standings to pick up a second straight win, the Nighthawks will look to keep the victories coming on Thursday in Lynn, Massachusetts. The Nighthawks will face the North Shore Navigators (5-6) at Fraser Field.

First pitch for the game, which will stream live on ESPN+, is scheduled for 6:05 p.m.

Already looking ahead to starting the second quarter of the season, Allen reflected on the first 11 games and said that the team is starting to come together more as individuals.

“Guys are enjoying themselves on the off day, putting in extra work,” Allen said. “They're enjoying early work. They're enjoying the bus rides. They're enjoying all the time off the field as well as on the field. It makes the whole experience that much better and that much easier because, at the end of the day, we just want them to get to a point where they're not riding the wins and losses, which I don't think they are, and rather just riding the fun times with each other. Really at the end of the day, not only is that what summer ball's about, but it's what baseball's about.”