Montpelier, VT – Backed by a three-hit and five RBI day from Kyle Neri (Rider), the Upper Valley Nighthawks defeated the Vermont Mountaineers with an emphatic 11-2 victory. 

The Nighthawks got on the board early thanks to a couple of costly pitching mistakes. After the first three batters drew walks, Nick Monile (North Florida) scored on a passed ball while Cole Fellows (Columbia) plated Anthony Brotz (Marist) on a sacrifice fly. Neri drove home runs three and four with a triple, solidifying Upper Valley’s dominant start.

In the third, Upper Valley extended its lead to six with RBI hits from Jack Spanier (Minnesota) and Ryan Preisano (Wake Forest), before Vermont responded in the bottom of the frame with a pair of RBI hits of its own from Kevin Hager (Cornell) and Thomas Schreck (Army). 

From there, it was all Upper Valley, as two runs in both the sixth and seventh and a run in the ninth propelled the Nighthawks to an 11-2 win. Neri drove in three of those five runs, with two coming on a seventh-inning single, and the lone one in the ninth being his first home run of the season. 

Aaron Potter (Georgia Gwinnett) earned the win for the Nighthawks, going 5.1 innings and striking out five. Tadan Bell (Coastal Carolina) was also terrific in relief, going two innings without a hit while punching out four. Bryce Gluckman (Stetson) was issued his second loss of the season for the Mountaineers.

It’s been a tough stretch of games for the Mountaineers, as they’ve dropped their fourth in a row and fall to 10-17 on the season. They travel to Keene tomorrow for a 6:35 pm contest against the SwampBats, while Upper Valley improves to 12-14 and hosts the North Shore Navigators tomorrow with first pitch at 4:00 pm.

Box Score