Hot Hawks: June 15-21
Take a look at the Nighthawks' top performers from the past week.
By Thaddeus Sawyer
With two weeks of baseball and just over a quarter of the season officially in the books, the Nighthawks are starting to heat up.
Going 4-2 last week, Upper Valley played especially well at home, winning all three games played at the Maxfield Sports Complex.
With a successful seven days in the books, let’s take a look at which Nighthawks soared above the competition.
One of the best hitters in the league through his first week-plus in a Nighthawks uniform, Kelly was as consistent as they come in his first full week with the team.
The 2026 Big South All-Conference First Team honoree reached safely in all six games the Nighthawks played this week. In the lone game in which he didn’t record a hit, the Nighthawks’ 4-2 loss to the North Shore Navigators on Thursday, Kelly stole both third and home to manufacture one of the team’s two runs.
A day earlier, Kelly went 4-for-5 with four singles against the Vermont Mountaineers, chipping in three RBIs as the Nighthawks took a 1-0 advantage in the 2026 Governor’s Cup series.
Kelly even flashed some power to end the week, hitting a double off of the wall against the Ocean State Waves on Saturday for his first extra-base hit of the summer and a wall-scraping home run against the North Adams SteepleCats on Sunday.
“Sarge” went toe-to-toe with Kelly this week, hitting his stride in a big way after a slow start to the summer by notching a hit in all five games in which he appeared.
Quagliato finished the week with seven knocks and a pair of multi-hit performances.
Starting early in the week and continuing through the weekend, Quagliato hit a power surge that resulted in four doubles across the five games.
Quagliato also dominated on the basepaths. Not only did the catcher throw out three would-be base stealers, but he also swiped a pair of bags himself.
Returning this week after taking time to tour schools and commit to the University of Kentucky last week, it took Kelsey a few games to regain his footing.
Once he did, Kelsey was nearly unstoppable at the plate.
Jumpstarting his weekend with a pinch-hit single against Sanford on Friday, Kelsey carried that success into Saturday against the Waves. Reaching base three times against the Waves, Kelsey topped that performance on Sunday against North Adams with a 3-for-4 afternoon at the plate.
The speedster also stole a pair of bags early in the week and swiped another against the SteepleCats.
That’s not to mention his stellar play on the grass, as the center fielder recorded 17 putouts over the course of the week. Kelsey has yet to make an error this summer.
Love hasn’t slowed down since winning the NECBL’s first Player of the Week award of the season two weeks ago. The third baseman reached base at least twice for four straight games in the middle of the week and was responsible for three runs driven in.
Two of those RBIs came on one swing, as Love contributed a pair of runs on a hard line drive single into right in Upper Valley’s blowout 13-6 win over the Vermont Mountaineers on Wednesday. Love nearly had another big RBI against North Shore, as his 393-foot double in the top of the eighth came just feet from clearing the wall in center for a go-ahead home run.
Love’s season slash line now sits at a hearty .385/.508/.500.
Hurt was no stranger to game-winning RBIs last week, forcing in a run after being hit by a pitch to take a decisive 2-1 lead over the Keen SwampBats on Monday and an RBI blooper into right field for the go-ahead run against the Waves on Saturday.
Though the utilityman got off to a slow start at the plate last week, he rebounded over the weekend with a .333 batting average across three games.
The Virginia Tech sophomore also continued to be a threat on the basepaths, stealing three bases over the course of the week. Hurt currently sits tied for third in the league with nine stolen bases.
The lone pitcher on this week’s list, Rondon closed out a pair of games for the Nighthawks this week. The left-hander tossed a trio of scoreless innings, sitting down five batters on strikes.
After recording three saves for the University of Hartford this past spring en route to earning Conference of New England All-Conference Third Team honors, Rondon seems to be earning the trust of manager Chase Allen. The rookie skipper turned to Rondon in a pair of one-run games, with the reliever picking up a pair of saves against North Division rivals Keene and Sanford.