Nighthawks Shut Out In Rain-Shortened Loss to Gulls

By Thaddeus Sawyer

If April showers bring May flowers, then what does a June shower bring?

A shortened baseball game, apparently.

With the calendar set to flip to July in just hours, untimely rain brought Tuesday’s rematch between the Upper Valley Nighthawks (10-10-1) and Newport Gulls (13-7-1) to an early end. The Nighthawks never got the chance to mount a comeback before the weather set in, falling 2-0 to the Gulls to split the season series.

Gulls third baseman and three-hole hitter Colby Wallace provided the most thunderous swing of the evening, sending the second pitch of the fifth inning over the left field wall and into the woods for a solo home run, his first of the summer.

In his fourth game with the Gulls, Wallace finally collected his first hit, tying designated hitter Maddox Haley for the team lead on the day with two apiece.

The Gulls also struck first in the second off some sloppy Upper Valley defense.

After landing a pair of runners on via a soft infield single and a walk, center fielder Mason Ligenza sent a bouncer over second base and into the outfield grass towards center fielder Alex Kelsey.

Looking to come up firing for a potential play at the plate, the ball instead ramped right out of Kelsey’s glove on the transfer, allowing left fielder Ryan Novak to score from second with ease.

Kelsey did somewhat make up for his error at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a hustle double into center in the sixth to lead the Nighthawks in hits for the contest. The speedster also swiped the Nighthawks’ lone stolen base on the day in the first.

Both Frank Kelly and Levi Jones also notched a knock for Upper Valley, while Nick Quagliato and Willie Hurt each worked a walk.

Across 3 2/3 innings in his first start of the year, right-hander Micah Wells allowed seven hits and a walk but struck out five to limit the damage to just Ligenza’s RBI.

Virginia Tech left-hander Danny Lazaro also made his second appearance of the summer and first since June 11 against the Keene SwampBats, allowing the home run to Wallace. Still, the left-hander used just 14 pitches to record four outs within five batters faced.

With an off day scheduled for Wednesday and Anthony Bubba scheduled to start on Thursday, High Point right-hander Mateo Wells made his first relief appearance of the summer and looked sharp, striking out two of the three batters he faced to retire the side in the sixth.

Vanderbilt reliever Nate Schlote, who has been working as a starter this summer, picked up his first win of the summer after tossing four scoreless innings and striking out four. The right-hander finishes June with 10 scoreless innings and 13 strikeouts across three starts.

Left-hander Kyler Zagar finished off the final two innings to his first save.

After Wednesday’s off day, Upper Valley will be back on the road to face more South Division competition. 

The Nighthawks will travel to Connecticut for the first time this season to take on the Mystic Schooners at Fitch High School. First pitch for the interdivisional matchup is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. The game will stream live on NECBL+.