Nighthawks Lose Third Straight to Blues

By Thaddeus Sawyer

For the first time all season, the Upper Valley Nighthawks have lost three straight games.

Sixteen free passes and a trio of unearned runs were too much for Upper Valley to overcome, as the Nighthawks (11-13-1) fell to the Bristol Blues (13-13), 9-5.

Five Nighthawks pitchers combined to walk 15 Blues batters, with an additional base runner reaching via a hit by pitch.

The Blues took advantage of the Nighthawks’ poor command and shaky defense nearly straight out of the gates, scoring five runs in the second inning after loading the bases with no outs.

After shortstop Evan Menzel walked on four pitches, second baseman JJ Romatzick reached on a weak grounder that bounced in and out of the glove of third baseman James Love. Center fielder Trent Rice continued the soft contact with a bases-loading bunt back to the mound that Nighthawks starter Trey Sejnoha bounced to third on the throw.

Third baseman Nick Flores gave the Blues their first run of the day with yet another grounder down the third base line. Again, the ball went in and out of Love’s glove before the third baseman recovered to throw onto first for the out.

Three pitches later, Sejnoha spiked a ball in front of catcher AJ DeMastrie that the Dartmouth backstop couldn’t get a glove on, giving Romatzick time to scamper home for another run.

Left fielder Antonio Ducatelli kept the inning going with an opposite field double towards the gap in left center that Upper Valley center fielder Alex Kelsey gathered just feet from the wall, scoring the third run of the inning in the process. 

The Nighthawks almost limited the damage at three for the time being when catcher Cal Chance flew one towards center field with two outs. Looking to end the inning, Kelsey charged in and dove head first towards the ball in shallow center. Instead of Kelsey catching the final out, the ball dropped just short of his outstretched glove and bounced deep into center field. 

Two more runs scored as Chance cruised into third with a triple, the Blues’ third of the summer. 

Three runs in the second inning were unearned.

Despite facing a sizable deficit early, the Nighthawks looked to be battling back as the game neared the middle innings. 

After missing three straight games, Love drove in a pair of runs on an RBI double to the base of the wall in right in the third to extend his team lead to 14 RBIs.

The Nighthawks also scored two runs in the fourth when Blues first baseman Nicholas Francuzenko could not hold on to the throw from Romatzick on a Cam Boardman grounder to second base.

That is where the comeback attempt puttered out, as the Blues posted four unanswered runs between the sixth and ninth to pull away.

Ducatelli picked up another RBI in the sixth on a groundout, while Francuzenko drove in a run with a single in the seventh.

Bases-loaded walks in both the eighth and ninth gave the Blues their final two runs, with designated hitter Mason Breton and Ducatelli each earning an RBI.

Ducatelli led the Blues on the day with three RBIs. 

The Nighthawks salvaged the ninth by scoring one final run on a Boardman double over the head of Ducatelli in left field. Kyle Langley scored after beating out an infield single earlier in the inning.

Jackson Caldwell was the lone Nighthawks pitcher to leave their outing having not allowed a run. The UNC Wilmington right-hander tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings, striking out one.

Vincent Luther also gave the Nighthawks length out of the bullpen, going 3 2/3 innings and giving up just one run. The left-hander’s season ERA now sits at 0.75 across 12 frames.

Of the Nighthawks' 217 pitches thrown, 103 went for strikes.

The Nighthawks will look to refind the zone and get back in the win column on Tuesday when they travel to Sanford, Maine to take on the Mainers at Goodall Park. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. The game will stream live on NECBL+ and Unbeaten.