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Vermont Has 3-1 Setback Against Nighthawks in Game 1 of Governor's Cup Series

June 10, 2023 - New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL)
Vermont Mountaineers News Release


Vermont Mountaineers' Nolan Sparks in action
Vermont Mountaineers' Nolan Sparks in action
(Vermont Mountaineers, Credit: Cierra Loomis, Digital Media/Photography Director)

WHITE RIVER JUNCTION, Vt. - The Vermont Mountaineers suffered a 3-1 setback to in-state rival the Upper Valley Nighthawks on Saturday night at the Maxfield Sports Complex. It was game one of the Governor's Cup series in Vermont's first division game of the year.

The Mountaineers drop to 3-1 while the Nighthawks improve to 3-1 on the young New England Collegiate Baseball League season.

Vermont threatened early. Evan Fox (Stony Brook / Ballston Spa, N.Y.)used his speed to reach on a grounder to first, before Luke Cantwell (Fairleigh Dickinson-Teaneck / Warrington, Pa.)dropped a single to center, to put runners on the corners. Santino Rosso (Hofstra / Fairport, N.Y.) walked to load the bases. A grounder to third scored Fox while putting runners on the corners. However, the Mountaineers only pushed across that one run.

Nolan Sparks (Rochester / Aurora, Colo.) had an effective start to open the game for Vermont, working around a one-out error to strike out the final two batters of the first inning. After the Mountaineers went quietly in the top of the second, Sparks continued his dominant start, striking out two more batters to put the Nighthawks down in order again.

Sparks continued to dominate, ending the third and fourth innings with a pair of swinging strikeouts as he fanned seven batters through four full innings. His counterpart Will McCausland settled down after the first inning with three quick innings of his own, working around a couple one-out hits to keep his team down by just a run.

After five hitless innings for the Nighthawks, Adarius Myers broke up the no-hitter, with a hard single up the middle, chasing Sparks from the game. Nick McAuliffe (East Stroudsburg / Phillipsburg, Pa.) came in relief. A stolen base and an errant throw let Myers advance to third. He came in to tie the game as Stephen Harrington drove him in to make it 1-1.

The Nighthawks put a runner on third with one out in the seventh, with a triple by Ryan Cesarini to deep center field. After a strikeout by McAuliffe, Patrick D'Amico sent one up the middle to give Upper Valley a 2-1 edge. The home team added an insurance run in the eighth inning on a two-out infield single by Christopher Worcester that scored Myers from third.

Sparks finished the game, going 5.2 innings, striking out nine batters, while allowing just one hit and a walk. He was charged with one run in his first start of the summer. Randall Alejo came in relief for the Nighthawks, earning the win in four innings of work. He gave up one hit and had three strikeouts.

The Mountaineers return to the friendly confines of Historic Montpelier Recreation FIeld on Sunday night for the 2023 home opener against the Newport Gulls. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 pm. You can follow all the action on the NECBL Broadcast Network here

For continuing coverage of the Vermont Mountaineers, bookmark thevermontmountaineers.com and follow the Mountaineers on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and on TikTok.




Images from this story

Vermont Mountaineers' Nolan Sparks in action
Vermont Mountaineers' Nolan Sparks in action
(Cierra Loomis, Digital Media/Photography Director)		   

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