Six Run Inning Not Enough To Hold Off Eagles

Freshman Darrik Marstaller (Spofford, NH/Keene) helped the Eagles return from a 9-3 deficit after two innings to defeat the Nighthawks, 14-10, Sunday afternoon.  The Daniel Webster centerfielder was 3-for-6 on the day with two doubles and four RBIs in the comeback.

The Eagles jumped on the scoreboard in the top of the first. Freshman Elliot Kilgore (Milford, NH/Milford) opened the contest lining a triple to centerfield and came in to score on a base hit by junior third baseman Bruce Brown (Lowell, MA/Greater Lowell Tech). But the Nighthawks answered in the bottom of the frame.

Sophomores Joseph Herer (Needham, MA/Needham) and catcher Patrick Curry (Hampstead, NH/Pinkerton Academy) recorded back-to-back one-out singles in the bottom of the inning. After sophomore Alex Chetelat (Farmington, CT/Farmington) struck out, freshman Kyle Schiavone (Wethersfield, CT/Wethersfield) came through with a two-out base hit into right field driving in Herer to tie up the score at one a piece.  Sophomore left fielder Michael Dean (Wethersfield, CT/Wethersfield) gave the Nighthawks the lead, driving in Curry with a single up the middle while freshman Joseph Guidi (Derry, NH/Pinkerton Academy) capped off a three run first with a single to left.

After Daniel Webster tied up the contest with two runs in the second, Newbury responded, batted around in the bottom half , putting up a six spot on the scoreboard and knocking freshman starter Zack Hurley (Hudson, NH/Alvirne) out of the game. But the Eagles were resilient and began to chip away at the Nighthawk lead.

In the top of the third, senior designated hitter Nick Michaud (Winsor Locks, CT/Winsor Locks) drove a one-out Michael Gulla (Westbury, NY/Carle Place) offering to deep left field for the two-run homerun. Two batters later junior Chris McKenzie (Burlington, MA/Burlington) plated freshman Rich Lizotte (West  Warwick, RI/West Warwick), who tripled following the homerun, to cut the deficit to four.

Eagles freshman Skyler Gregorek (Schuylerville, NY/Schuylerville) was solid in relief of Hurley. He kept the Nighthawks at bay after allowing an inherited runner to score and giving up two earned runs of his own in 4.2 innings of work.

Over the course of the next three innings, Daniel Webster was slowly coming back, recording one run in the fifth and two in the sixth while keeping Newbury off the scoreboard. When the eighth inning rolled around, the Eagles found themselves down by just one.

Sophomore Kenny Martin (Brockton, NN/Brockton) led off the inning with a walk and was pinch run for by classmate Nate Marshall (Groveton, NH/Groveton), who swiped second soon after. He would advance to third on sacrifice line drive to right and came in to tie up the contest at 10 on a base hit by Marstaller.

In relief of Gulla, sophomore Steven Saia (Avon, MA/Avon) opted to intentionally walk Brown, for the second time, in order to set up the double-play after Marstaller stole second. Junior Tyler Calkin (Hollis, NH/Hollis Brookline), who entered at second on defense in the seventh, gave the Eagles the two-point advantage with a base hit to right, driving in Marstaller and Brown.  Daniel Webster would get another two runs in the top of the ninth but would not need it as Newbury stranded senior Hayato Iwahori (Tokyo, Japan/Meguro-Gakuin) at second after pinch running for Guidi following a lead-off single.

The loss drops the Nighthawks to 4-16 on the season and 2-4 in the conference while the Eagles improve to 10-8 overall and 5-1 n the NECC. Newbury returns to the field tomorrow afternoon when they host the Framingham State Rams in a non-conference match-up at 3:00 PM.