By: Patrick McCaw 

Photo Credit: Riley Bergstrom

LYNN, MA - The Upper Valley Nighthawks split Saturday's doubleheader against the North Shore Navigators. The Nighthawks comeback fell short in game one 5-4, but they dominated in game two winning 7-3. 

Upper Valley came into Saturday's doubleheader losing six of their last seven games. And the start of game one was a frustrating start to an important doubleheader. 

The first inning was about to come to a close when Nighthawks catcher Damaurys Rodriguez' (Post U) wild throw to second base allowed North Shore's runner to steal home and give the Navigators an early 1-0 lead. The Nav's offense would stay in gear in the second, Jason Jarrell's (Clemson) RBI triple to left field would extend North Shore's lead to 2-0. 

Upper Valley's bats would show signs of life in the fourth inning. A pair of singles by Matthew Russo (Southern Mississippi) and Rodriguez would out runners in scoring position for the Nighthawks. And Pat D'Amico's (Seton Hall) single to center field would drive Russo in for the Nighthawks first run of the day. 

The Navigators went for the final blow in the fifth inning. Evan Griffis' (Stetson) RBI single to center field would start the offensive barrage for North Shore. Immediately after, two straight RBI doubles by Matthew Chattele (Merrimack) and Brandan Drapeau (St. Josephs) would give the Nav's a 5-1 lead. 

But after a tumultuous week for Upper Valley, the Nighthawks refused to go down without a fight. Nick Monistere's (Southern Mississippi) two-run bomb to left field would bring Upper Valley within two runs. Monistere would also drive in Adarius Myers (Louisiana Tech) in the bottom of the seventh with a single to center field to give the Nighthawks a chance to tie the game. But that chance would come up short as Russo's flyout would end game one.

Upper Valley would start game two hot. Myers led off the contest with a triple to left field, he would be brought home by Tyler Long's (Mount St. Mary's) RBI single to center field. Long would later find home plate thanks to a bases loaded walk on Russo. The Nighthawks would go into the second inning with a 2-0 lead. 

The score was 2-1 in the fourth inning when Tyler Long continued his recent hot streak with his second RBI single of the game. "I changed a couple of things a couple games ago that really helped me out." Long said. 

However, North Shore would keep this game interesting. In the bottom of the fifth DJ Pacheco (Richmond) would bring in a fellow Navigator to cut Upper Valley's lead to 3-2. 

But in the seventh inning, the Nighthawks offense closed out the game in style. Steve Harrington's (Hofstra) two-run double to left field would bring in both Myers and Ryan Cesarini (St. Josephs) to make it a 5-2 Nighthawks lead. Immediately after Harrington's double came a triple off the bat of Monistere to make the lead 6-2. D'Amico's best game in an Upper Valley jersey continued as he capped off a four run seventh inning with a RBI single to right field. 

"He (D'Amico) really stepped up," manager Mat Pause said, "Unfortunately for him that he hasn't seen a lot of playing time, but he stepped up big for us today and I think you'll see him at third more often going forward."

The Navigators' one run in the seventh wouldn't be enough as Saturday's doubleheader ended in a split. "Today was a good day overall," Pause said, "I thought our energy was down in the first game but we picked it up towards the end and it really carried over in game two." 

The Upper Valley Nighthawks will have two days off as Sunday's contest at Vermont has been postponed. Their next scheduled bout will be in Vermont on Tuesday.