WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — Adarius Myers may have played in just 10 games for the Upper Valley Nighthawks at the tail end of the 2022 season, but that was enough time for him to decide he wanted to be back in the Upper Valley this summer.

Six games into the 2023 campaign, the outfielder from Louisiana Tech is again helping pace the Nighthawks’ offense. Myers has hit safely in each contest, with three multi-hit games and five runs scored. The leadoff hitter drove in his first two runs of the season with a bases-loaded single Thursday night against Keene as Upper Valley eventually claimed a 4-3 win in 11 innings over the Swamp Bats, improving to 4-2 and moving into a virtual tie for first place in the New England Collegiate Baseball League’s North Division.

“Last year, I came toward the end, so everybody was pretty much burned out,” Myers said. “But the guys here (this year) are having a lot of fun together. We’re still gelling together, but the vibes are good. Everybody’s having a good time.”

Myers, who hit .345 as a late-season addition last summer, has been a rare bright spot at the plate as the Nighthawks and the rest of the NECBL adjust to using wood bats after hitting with aluminum during the college season. Kevin Bruggeman (Hofstra), Christopher Worcester (Eastern Illinois) and Stephen Harrington (Hofstra) are off to strong offensive starts, but as a team the Nighthawks were batting just .202 through Thursday with a slugging percentage of .293.

Wood bats have a smaller sweet spot than their aluminum counterparts, meaning hitters must make contact directly on the barrel to maximize their exit velocity and overall power. With the more forgiving metal bats, balls hit off the end or closer to the handle can still go a long way.

“I don’t really try to think too much into it,” Myers said. “I try to hit the sweet spot on the metal bats, and then I come here and try to hit the sweet spot on the wood bats. I don’t try to think that I have to hit it in a certain spot; I just try to get my swing off. I’ve been catching a lot of barrels.”

Pitching staff carrying UV early

The starting pitching has kept Upper Valley in every game so far, but all four of their wins have belonged to relievers. Entering Friday night’s game at rival Vermont, the Nighthawks’ bullpen has a 1.52 ERA in just under 30 innings of work.

Right-hander Jordan Goldman (Le Moyne College) has emerged as a top late-inning option, with four appearances already and just one run allowed. Randall Alejo, in his third year with Upper Valley out of the College of Saint Rose, has earned the win in both of his outings — he pitched the last four innings in Saturday’s 3-1 win over the Mountaineers, then kept the automatic runner on second from scoring in both the 10th and 11th innings on Thursday against Keene.

“Randall was huge for us at the end in extra innings, especially starting those innings with guys on second,” Nighthawks manager Mat Pause said. “As a staff, we’re really encouraged about what we’re seeing right now. As long as guys throw strikes and stay healthy, we’ll be just fine.”

Carson Frye (Georgetown) made his second start of the summer Thursday, giving up one run on six hits over five solid innings. Will McCausland (Saint Joseph’s) had a nearly identical line in his lone start against the Mountaineers, and local product Brendan Walker — a Woodsville native and Kimball Union Academy graduate now pitching at Stetson — allowed one earned run in 4⅓ innings in his NECBL debut on June 9 at Sanford.

“My fastball was keeping me in there,” Frye said. “I was struggling to locate the curveball and the changeup, especially in the beginning. The last pitch I threw in a full count (to get a strikeout), I finally landed a curveball, so I was pretty hyped about that.”

Help is on the way

The Nighthawks will soon add five players whose teams made deep runs in the NCAA Division I tournament.

Kentucky pitchers Evan Byers and Christian Howe will make their way north after the Wildcats fell to LSU in the Super Regionals. Pitcher Chase Adams, infielder Matthew Russo and outfielder Nickolas Monistere will join Upper Valley after their Southern Mississippi team came up one game short of reaching the Men’s College World Series, losing in a three-game Super Regional to Tennessee.

Monistere had the best college season of the group, with a .320/.422/.523 triple slash, five home runs and 28 RBIs in 128 at-bats with the Golden Eagles. He also made nine relief appearances on the mound, going 1-0 with a 4.00 ERA.

Infielder Austin Beck, coming off a spring in which he slashed .338/.456/.541 with 41 stolen bases for NCAA Division II national champion Angelo State, will also join the roster in the coming days.

“We’re excited to get them. We’ll have our full roster,” Pause said. “From a pitching standpoint, that allows us to be a lot more flexible. Right now, we don’t have as many arms, so we’re going day by day.”

’Hawks in the pros

Ty Adcock, a member of the 2018 Nighthawks, made his Major League debut with the Seattle Mariners on Monday, tossing two scoreless innings in a win over the Miami Marlins.

Adcock, who played collegiately at Elon, is the third ex-Nighthawk to reach the big leagues. He joins Ryan Jeffers, a catcher in his fourth season with the Minnesota Twins, and Cam Alldred, who made one relief appearance in 2022 for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

From last year’s team, hard-throwing relief pitcher Trey Nordmann is currently with the Delmarva Shorebirds, the Class A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles.

Jack Choate, the lone 2022 Nighthawk selected in the MLB Draft that year, has a 2.30 ERA in 43 innings for the San Jose Giants, the San Francisco Giants’ Class A farm club.

“I was here in ’17 and ’18 (as the hitting coach), so I was actually with Ryan Jeffers and Ty Adcock,” Pause said. “They really enjoyed their time here in the Upper Valley, and it’s good to see those guys make it to the big leagues and do well.”

Benjamin Rosenberg can be reached at brosenberg@vnews.com or 603-727-3302.