Nighthawks Fall in Road Finale Against Mainers

By Thaddeus Sawyer

Bittersweet was the perfect word to sum up Anthony Bubba’s final appearance of the summer for the Upper Valley Nighthawks on Friday night.

Sure, the Quinnipiac starter surrendered eight earned runs in just 1 2/3 innings of work, but that is not the moment that stuck out.

Neither was the 1-2-3 inning he tossed in the first before running into trouble.

The thing that said the most about Bubba was the flood of pitchers from the bullpen and bench pieces from the dugout filing onto the field and lining up just beyond the first base entrance to the visitor’s dugout to greet the reliable right-hander for the last time, showing just how much his presence has meant to his teammates.

“I think it was just awesome,” Bubba said. “I learned so much this summer, just about myself, about baseball and just in general and everything. 
It's kind of bittersweet going home. It's really sad, especially with the way I pitched today. It's gonna be tough just missing all the guys.”

While Bubba allowed eight runs in the second inning as the Nighthawks (18-15-1) fell 9-5 to the Sanford Mainers (23-11), doubling the number of earned runs he allowed on the summer, the New Jersey native fell victim to multiple hits falling just outside the reach of his outfielders.

Center fielder Willie Hurt and right fielder Levi Jones both had potential inning-ending fly balls touch their gloves before finding grass on diving attempts from the pair of outfielders.

By the end of the frame, Brendan Sencaj and Jackson Sirois had notched RBI doubles. Jacob Harring, Albert De La Rosa and Jack Tate all chipped in run-scoring singles. De La Rosa also scored on a wild pitch as Harring stole second base.

The five hits that Bubba relinquished in the second was tied for the most he has given up in any start this summer with his outing against Keene on June 9. The SwampBats notched five knocks in 4 2/3 innings in that contest.

“I think everything mentally just started to spiral,” Bubba said. “As that goes, everything physically starts spiraling. Just getting to that point, I got hit after hit. It is what it is.”

Though Bubba finished his Nighthawks tenure with a 6.45 ERA, he came into the start with a 3.48 ERA through 20 2/3 innings.

In his second appearance for the Nighthawks, reliever Leo Barta demonstrated improved control while navigating his way through two scoreless innings of work. The Haverford right-hander said he was pitching with more confidence already having an NECBL outing under his belt.

“I was just focused on calming the nerves a little bit and staying within myself,” Barta said. “
I feel like last Monday, I was overthrowing a little bit, pulling off and just like trying to do too much with each pitch. Tonight, I was just more focused on — didn't care too much if I left over the middle, just try to put it in the zone and see what happens.”

Hofstra reliever Chris Bedford made his Nighthawks debut in the eighth, using just 11 pitches to retire all three batters he faced.

Vincent Luther also pitched 3 1/3 innings in relief of Bubba, ceding just one earned run on a fourth inning sacrifice fly off the bat of right fielder Nater Wachter. The Binghamton left-hander also allowed two inherited runners to cross home in the second.

Despite the lopsided final score, it was the Nighthawks who struck first in the top of the first inning. After Frank Kelly led off the game with a hustle double that caught Mainers center fielder Antonio Morales sleeping, left fielder Kyle Langley drove the shortstop with a single into center.

Reigning NECBL Player of the Week James Love continued to do damage, driving in three runs across a fifth inning single and ninth inning groundout.

AJ DeMastrie scored on a wild pitch in the ninth in his first game back from injury after being hit by a pitch to lead off the frame.

Kelly and Love each posted a pair of hits for Upper Valley. Kelly also stole a season-high four bases to move back within the top five in the league in the category with 20.

The Nighthawks stole a season-high seven bases as a team, with Langley also swiping a pair and third baseman Alejandro Puig stealing one as well.

With the loss, the Nighthawks snap a three-game winning streak and fall further behind the Mainers for first place in the North Division. Upper Valley remains in second.

After Saturday’s double header with Danbury was postponed, the Nighthawks will be back on the field Sunday night at the Maxfield Sports Complex to host the Keene SwampBats (17-17-1). The contest will mark the final time this season the Nighthawks will sport their Greener Mind uniforms.

First pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m. The contest will stream live on ESPN+.