Local Roundup: UV Splits Two; Post 22 Defeated

Montpelier — Uncharacteristic was the word in the air after the Upper Valley Nighthawks split a New England Collegiate Baseball League doubleheader with the Vermont Mountaineers on Saturday afternoon at Montpelier’s Recreation Field.

It took small ball for the Nighthawks to manufacture a 3-1 victory in the eighth inning of the opener, something Upper Valley head coach Jason Szafarski admitted he isn’t known for. In game two, it was a bullpen carousel that turned a two-run Upper Valley lead into eight Vermont runs in two innings as the Mountaineers grabbed an 8-2 victory for their first win over Upper Valley this summer.

The split does bring Upper Valley’s magic number to clinch the Northern Division to five; the second-place Valley Blue Sox (19-15) defeated the Plymouth Pilgrims, 6-3, on Saturday. The Nighthawks (25-13) have clinched the playoffs, however, with the Winnipesaukee Muskrats now at 16-20. Upper Valley will spend the next week jockeying for playoff position.

In the opener, Vermont starter Zach Schultz (Kent State) went the distance for the Mountaineers but struggled in the eighth as the Nighthawks manufactured a win.

Schultz walked Nighthawks lead-off hitter Connor Hood (Seton Hall) on four pitches. Matt Sanders (Troy) and Anthony Godino (Wagner) followed with back-to-back bunt singles to load the bases with no outs.

Hood scored on a passed ball, and Sanders scored on a groundout to Vermont first baseman Jesse Forestell (Western Michigan), who threw late trying to prevent the run at home.

“It’s not the way we play, and it’s never been the way I coach,” said Szafarski after game one. “These two teams, us and Vermont, are completely different. They’ll bunt early. I want to play for that big inning and not give outs.”

Back-to-back doubles from Ryan Jeffers (UNC-Wilmington) and Reynolds tied the game at 1-1 in the fourth inning to counter a first-inning Vermont score.

Ashton Raines (Bloomsburg) was near-perfect over six innings, allowing four hits and two walks with six strikeouts. Vermont’s lone run came courtesy of a Reynolds error at third base.

David Sampson (Plymouth State) gave up a hit in the seventh and was credited with the win. Will Carnley (Troy) was perfect in the eighth and for the save, his first of the summer.

The nightcap was a different story. Upper Valley took a 2-0 lead after two innings thanks to a Reynolds RBI single in the first and a solo home run by Adam Chase (Franklin Pierce) in the second. Paxton Stover gave up one hit, three walks and struck out four in 4⅓ innings, leaving the game in the fifth with one out and Mountaineer runners on second and third.

Keller Bradford (Southern Mississippi) struck out one and walked another before Joe DeRosa (Iona), scheduled to start on Monday, entered the game to try to get Upper Valley out of a two-outs, bases-loaded jam. Vermont’s Chase Grant sent the first pitch he saw into right field, a two-run single that tied the game. The Mountaineers never looked back.

Sean Frontzak (Saint Louis) gave up five hits and six runs to nine batters in the sixth inning as Vermont took control.

“Submariners (like Bradford) are not good against lefties,” Szafarski said. “That was the game plan going in, to have Keller face off against the righties until the lefties came up for DeRosa. First-pitch fastball was just smoked up the middle.

“Once you get into playoff baseball, you have a role and you have to embrace that role, to do the best job you can,” he added. “Whether it’s getting righties out, getting lefties out, whatever it is, we’ve got to get outs.”

Upper Valley returns to Rec Field to play Vermont again on Monday night.

Rochester 13, Lebanon 3

Manchester — Post 22 stayed close, but the veteran element that dominates two-time defending champion Rochester Post 7 won out in the end, dropping Lebanon into the losers’ bracket of the New Hampshire state tournament at Gill Stadium.

Matt Braley brought in Will Truell with a sacrifice fly as Post 22 took a 1-0 lead with its first at-bat. Braley, Lebanon’s starting pitcher, surrendered only one hit in the home first, but two walks and two hit batters added up to a 4-1 Rochester advantage.

Dash Fukushima’s RBI single in the third brought Lebanon to within 5-2, and Henry Day drove in a run one inning later to get Post 22 within two. It was all Rochester from there, with Post 7 using a pair of late two-run rallies to prevail.

Lebanon returns to action at 3 p.m. today against Sweeney, needing a win to extend its season.

Lebanon 2, Merrimack 1

Lebanon — Post 22 completed an eight-win charge to close the regular season in a junior New Hampshire Legion contest at Lebanon High School.

Zach Moore threw three-hit shutout ball over six innings to get the win for Lebanon (12-4). Moore struck out five and walked one, yielding to reliever Kyle Pelletier in the seventh. Pelletier surrendered a run but held on for the save.

Jack Loftus had a pair of hits, including an RBI double, and scored a run for Lebanon. Five other Post 22 batsmen added base hits.

Like its senior compatriots, Lebanon earned the third seed out of District A for this week’s junior state tournament at Manchester’s Gill Stadium. Post 22 plays on Thursday at 11:30 a.m. against either Newmarket, Portsmouth or Dover.

Touchline V 4Peterborough V 2

Norwich — Blake Palmer’s hat trick enabled Touchline (9-4-1) to pull away from Peterborough in a New Hampshire Soccer Conference Division V match at Huntley Meadows.

Palmer scored twice in the first half for a 2-1 lead at the break, then added his third goal after Tucker Monson struck twine for the hosts. Amane Matsuoka added an assist, while goalkeeper Andrew Enelow made seven saves.

Touchline is back in action at Merrimack Valley today at 2 p.m.

Peterborough IV 4Touchline Boys SC 3

Norwich — Touchline (6-4-0) saw a two-goal lead in the second half evaporate in an NHSC Division IV defeat.

Liam Collins delivered two goals and Christo Dragnev netted the third for Touchline, which picked up two assists from Nico Mayo-Pushee and one from Pedro Gallino. Anthony Stoffel finished with six saves against a Peterborough attack that tallied the match’s final three goals.

Touchline visits Merrimack Valley IV today at 4 p.m.