UPPER VALLEY NIGHTHAWKS 2025 YEAR IN REVIEW
In the next edition of the NECBL 2025 Year in Review series, we take a look at the Upper Valley Nighthawks 2025 campaign.
The Nighthawks finished the 2025 season 18-26, fourth in the North Division. They did make the NECBL playoffs, but were swept in the first round by the eventual champion Keene Swamp Bats. Upper Valley had a litany of players recognized by the NECBL, headlined by 2025 NECBL Sportsman of the Year Anthony Brotz. Brotz was also featured as an All-NECBL team honorable mention, also making the All-Star game as a reserve. Outfielder Cole Fellows and reliever Mateo Wells joined Brotz with All-NECBL recognition, each making the second team. The Nighthawks, who hosted the All-Star game at Maxfield Sports Complex, had five all-stars, including Brotz. Fellows started for the North Division, while Aaron Potter, Nick Shuhet, and Alex Marot all got All-Star nods, representing the hosting team as reserves.
Upper Valley’s game of the year came in the regular season’s closing stages: a July 28 contest against the Vermont Mountaineers at Maxfield Sports Complex. Nick Tamburro started for the Nighthawks, while right-hander Oliver Ellison got the nod for Vermont.
Tamburro and Ellison dominated early, each cruising through the first three innings without allowing a run.
It was the Mountaineers who got the scoring started in the top of the fourth. After an Upper Valley error, catcher Brendan Buecker came to the plate with two outs and two runners in scoring position. Buecker cashed in, hitting a two-run single to put Vermont on the board. After stealing a base, left fielder Joey Pagano knocked the catcher in on an RBI single, giving Vermont a 3-0 lead, and prompting Upper Valley to pull Tamburro from the contest. None of the three runs on Tamburro’s line were earned.
After Tadan Bell kept the Mountaineers to three runs, the Nighthawks' offense came alive. Shortstop Brooks Barber led off the inning with a double. Fellows followed up with an RBI single, reaching second base on an error. The outfielder eventually came around to score, and after four innings, Vermont led 3-2.
Outside of the brief blip in the fourth, Ellison was in complete control, going six innings as he allowed one earned run on three hits. On the flipside, Bell was spotless, tossing 4.1 scoreless innings, striking out five batters while walking none. Through eight and a half innings, Vermont still led 3-2. The Nighthawks had managed to get the tying run into scoring position in the eighth inning, but couldn’t get the job done against Vermont's Logan Ozias.
The ninth inning proved to be a different story. With one out, first baseman Ryan Preisano laced a triple. In the midst of the next at-bat, Ozias uncorked a wild pitch, allowing Preisano to come home with the tying run. Upper Valley couldn’t manage any more offense, but the damage had been done. This game was headed to extra innings with a 3-3 tie.
Third baseman Elliott Miles wasted no time taking the lead back for Vermont, leading off the top of the 10th with a double, scoring Buecker, who began the inning at second base. Miles managed to score on a wild pitch and a passed ball, and Vermont was up 5-3, looking to nail down the win.
The Mountaineers called on Benjamin Gill to secure the save, whom the Nighthawks had already faced on July 8. The extra reps proved to be vital. Like Miles in the top of the 10th, Brotz opened the bottom of the frame with an RBI double, cutting the deficit to one. Middle infield mate Barber replicated Brotz's success, hitting his own RBI double to tie the game up 5-5. A few batters later, the game fell into the hands of Preisano, who had already tied the game up in the ninth, as he came to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs. Preisano came through once again, swatting a walk-off RBI single, securing a 6-5 Nighthawks win.
Despite being outhit 14-9, the Nighthawks managed to scratch across a victory. Barber and Preisano were the two hitters who collected multiple hits for Upper Valley, with Barber going three for four with two doubles and two RBI. West Georgia product Mason Phillips was awarded the win for Upper Valley, pitching the ninth and 10th innings. While the Nighthawks would lose their final two games of the regular season, those two losses proved inconsequential, as their 18 victories were enough to reach the postseason.
Stay tuned for the next iteration of the 2025 NECBL year in review series, releasing Thursday, May 7.
The New England Collegiate Baseball League is a wooden bat college summer league that fields teams in all six New England states. Partially funded by Major League Baseball, the New England League started play in 1994 and has sent over 240 alumni to the Major Leagues, with nearly 30 alumni taken in the first round of the MLB Draft. For continuing coverage of the NECBL, visit NECBL.com and follow the league on X/Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
