By: Patrick McCaw

Photo Credit: Riley Bergstrom

WHITE RIVER JUNCTION, VT - The Upper Valley Nighthawks snapped their five game losing streak in fashion Thursday Night. An eleventh inning walk-off single by Austin Beck (Angelo St.) gave Upper Valley a commanding 3-1 lead in the Governor's Cup series.

The Nighthawks got off to a steaming start for the first time in five games. Ryan Cesarini (St. Josephs) started his day with a deep triple to center-field. Over the last five games the Nighthawks have failed to bring runners in, but it didn't take long for Upper Valley to change that. Kevin Bruggeman's (Hofstra) sac-fly would score Cesarini giving the Nighthawks an early 1-0 lead in the first. 

Nighthawks starting pitcher Patrick Gardner would keep the rival Mountaineers scoreless until the third inning. Aaron Whitley (Rochester) would bring in Luke Cantwell (Pittsburgh) to tie the game 1-1 in the third inning. Upper Valley would retaliate right away, Adarius Myers' (Louisiana Tech) single to left field would advance the speedster Dylan Palmer (Hofstra) from first to third to put him in scoring position.

Cesarini would again be in the spotlight as he brought in Palmer to and reach first base due to fielders choice. The Nighthawks wouldn't be done in the third inning however, as Bruggeman would rack up his second RBI of the day with a single to left field giving the Nighthawks a 3-1 lead. 

In the bottom of the sixth Palmer would extend Upper Valley's lead 5-1 with a single to second base that scored Nick Monistere (Southern Mississippi), and an error by the second basemen would allow Tyler Long (Mount St. Mary's) to join the scoring party. 

But Vermont manager Mitch Holmes and the Mountaineers wouldn't go out quietly. Randall Alejo was inserted at the mound and had a shaky start.  Cantwell would bring in Branden Butterworth (NC State) with a single to right field. Immediately after Santino Rosso's (Hofstra) double to left field would advance two runners with Grant Voytovich (Bucknell) scoring. And to cap off the big inning for Vermont, Cantwell would reach home plate thanks to Tyler Cox's (Dartmouth) sac-fly. The big seventh inning would bring Vermont back into striking distance now only losing 5-4.

"Randall struggled a little bit today but that's okay," pitching coach Chad Sturgeon said, "A couple unfortunate bounces in the late innings didn't help him out though."

Alejo would recover however as he regained his confidence in the eighth while not allowing a run in the inning. After Voytovitch's double to left field, Nick Monistere would replace Alejo at the mound after serving as the Nighthawks second basemen for the entirety of the game. Voytovitch would tie the game up in the ninth as Cesarini couldn't handle the ball in left field. 

The beginning of extra innings seemed to be the end of Upper Valley. The Mountaineers quickly loaded the bases, and Butterworth came through when needed as his two-run single gave Vermont a 7-5 lead. 

But Upper Valley didn't give up, Monistere's single to left field scored Beck, and right after Steve Harrington's (Hofstra) sac-fly would bring in Kory Klingenbeck (Cincinnati) to tie up the ball game in the tenth. 

If the tenth inning didn't get your blood pumping, then the eleventh inning certainly finished the job. Vermont would yet again take the lead as Whitley would bring in Butterworth to take a 8-7 lead. 

With two outs in the bottom of the eleventh, the Nighthawks had to score at least one run to avoid their sixth straight loss. With bases loaded Klingenbeck approached the plate for the first time in a very difficult spot. Klingenbeck would work the count and tie the game with a clutch walk that advanced Long. Then all eyes averted to the Division II National Champion Austin Beck. And the Angelo State Ram walked off a crazy game with a blooper into right field winning the game 9-8 for Upper Valley. 

"I was just trying to have a good at bat, you know if I just walked that would've ended the game too," Beck said, "I took the first pitch trying to get deep in the count and then he threw on at me that I knew I could handle, and I just put a good swing on it." 

This win snapped a five-game losing streak and extended Upper Valley's Governor Cup lead to 3-1. "This was huge for the camaraderie of the team," Beck said, "We will definitely use this for the games to come." 

"This win felt really good," manager Mat Pause said, "The guys kept battling, we went down twice in extra innings, but we found a way to pull it out."

The Upper Valley Nighthawks will be back at the Max tomorrow as they take on the Sanford Mainers at 6:00 PM.