White River Junction — Timely hitting has finally returned for the Upper Valley Nighthawks.
The Nighthawks finished a 12-4 victory over the Keene Swamp Bats on Thursday at the Maxfield Sports Complex with 17 hits, with four doubles, two triples and three hits that drove in multiple runs to defeat the visitors for the first time in New England Collegiate Baseball League action this season.
The win was Upper Valley’s third straight and created some separation from Keene (11-12) in the NECBL Northern Division standings. The Swamp Bats entered the game having won seven of their last 10 contests, enough to pull within a half-game of the Nighthawks, who were 3-7 in their last 10.
“It was only a matter of time,” Upper Valley coach Jason Szafarski said. “The numbers weren’t matching up. The guys were seeing the ball better, not chasing pitches out of the zone, and it was really a matter of time until we broke it open.
“It’s always frustrating when you’re losing, especially the way we were losing,” he added. “Not getting those clutch hits in key situations when we could have won games, hopefully we learn from it as a group and go forward.”
Upper Valley (12-10) scored its runs in bunches, plating four runs in the third inning, three in the sixth and another four runs in the eighth. It also got big hits from its most consistent batters.
Fordham’s Matt Tarabek started things off with a two-run single as part of a four-run rally in the third inning. Lamar’s Anthony Quirion finished the job, sending a two-run double off the center-field wall in the sixth and a two-run triple just inside the third base line in the eighth.
Georgia Tech shortstop Austin Wilhite, who made his Upper Valley debut against the Vermont Mountaineers on Wednesday, continued his hot start. He went 3-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored, batting .571 in his first two games.
Wilhite spent the last week on the move. He was released from the Cape Cod League’s Chatham Anglers on July 2 after going 2-for-20 with 16 strikeouts in 14 games. He arrived in the Upper Valley on Tuesday and has since found his confidence again.
“I think I had one day to pack up my stuff,” Wilhite said. “The next day, it was a four-hour drive from Chatham up here. I’ve been having a good time up here so far.”
“Coming off of where I was in Chatham, my confidence was down,” he added. “I think a change of venue, getting somewhere else to try and relax, getting here with a new guys, I thought to myself, ‘I have to go out, relax and play.’ That’s what I’ve been doing, and good things have been happening.”
Quirion finished the game 4-for-5 with four RBIs and three runs scored, batting lead-off for the first time in his career. Tarabek was 3-for-4 with two RBIs and one run scored from the No. 7 slot.
More than anything, it appears the Nighthawks have their offensive swagger back.
“It was situational hitting,” Quirion said. “When we got runners on base, we cashed them in. That was the biggest struggle last week, not necessarily hits but the timing of those hits. It was always bad timing. We were hitting when it didn’t mean anything. Then, when we had some offensive threats, we’d go down. It was good to see the guys coming through with guys in scoring position.”
Keene drew first blood in the top of the first inning, scoring two runs on three hits and an error against Upper Valley starting pitcher Reid VanScoter (Binghamton). The left-hander settled in after his shaky start, allowing eight hits, no walks and striking out four in four innings.
St. Joseph’s Jordan DiValerio took over in the fifth inning, allowing a run, two walks and five hits over the next four innings. Vanderbilt’s A.J. Franklin allowed a hit and a walk in the ninth, but preserved the victory.
“I thought we swung the bats pretty well; it was good to see,” Szafarski said. “Ever since that second game of the Newport series (a doubleheader split against the Gulls on Tuesday), the bats have really come alive. That was our Achilles’ heel during that little funk we got in. But I think our bats have woken up a little bit.”
Upper Valley hosts the New Bedford Bay Sox today at 6:30 p.m. at Maxfield before heading back to Montpelier for a meeting with Vermont on Saturday. UNCW’s Brody Lawson is slated to start for the Nighthawks today.
Notes: St. Joseph’s University and Keene infielder Charlie Concannon played the final summer league game of his career on Thursday, returning home to have surgery to address a double hernia. The former Nighthawk played 11 games for Keene this summer after being released from the Cape Cod League, batting .364 with 17 hits, two doubles and 12 runs. He is a senior with at St. Joe’s next spring and is no longer eligible to play summer ball. ... Upper Valley starting pitcher Greyson McLeod, from West Georgia, is returning home later this week to tend to a back injury. McLeod was 0-3 in five appearances with a 5.87 ERA with Upper Valley. ... Fordham pitcher Brian Weissert is set to return to the team at some point next week. Weissert was with the Nighthawks to start the season, but returned home soon after with tightness in his back. ... A plaque honoring umpire and Hartford resident Bob Ammel, a longtime football and baseball official in Vermont and New Hampshire, has been set in a rock surrounded by flowers between the pavilion and the parking lot at Maxfield.
Josh Weinreb can be reached at jweinreb@vnews.com or 603-727-3306.