— By Matt Golec, 5/29/24

Hartford, VT

In the final weeks of May, Noah Crane and Matt Wright, the president and general manager of the Upper Valley Nighthawks baseball team, were working through their to-do list. The press box needed to be set up. Sponsors’ banners had to be hung in the outfield. A shortage of host families for the college-age players remained. And uniforms from last season still needed to be picked up and laundered.

And that was before players had even arrived. A lot of preparation goes into playing ball at the Maxfield Outdoor Sports Complex in Hartford each summer, and until the rest of the team’s staff, coaches and players show up, much of that work falls to Crane and Wright.

This “two-headed machine,” as Wright calls the pair, were looking forward to the fun, excitement and (relative) relaxation that comes with opening day.

“I think the easy part of the job is the season for us,” said Wright, who joined the Nighthawks as an intern about five years ago. “The ten months that follow the season are where all the work happens.”

Noah Crane (L) and Matt Wright in the Nighthawks’ press box. All photos except where noted by Matt Golec.

The Nighthawks start their eighth season of bringing summer baseball to the Upper Valley with three games on the road beginning June 4, followed by their first home game on June 9 against the North Shore Navigators of Lynn, Mass.

The Nighthawks are one of 13 teams that play in the New England Collegiate Baseball League. The players are mostly college students on summer break, testing their baseball skills and seeing what it’s like to grind out a season as a working athlete. It’s a bit like an internship where players explore whether they might want to go on to play professionally.

The league’s high caliber of play means the Nighthawks have to start building their rosters earlier and earlier, in September or even August. When one season ends, the calls to coaches and prospective players for the next year begin.

“If you want to get the best college baseball players in the country, you’ve got to start earlier,” Crane said. “Or someone else will beat you to it.”

How well the Nighthawks’ roster comes together remains to be seen, but on paper at least, this season’s team looks strong.

Pitcher Dylan McCarthy, from Chester, VT, warms up before pitching practice.

“We are excited to see them get here and start to compete,” Crane said. “I think we've got depth at every position.”

Crane founded the Nighthawks in 2015. Born in Hanover, Crane played college ball and coached a bit before starting a team in Laconia, N.H., and then the Upper Valley, which he calls home.

“So baseball's always been in my blood in some way,” he said.

Crane knows not everyone bleeds baseball like him, so he makes sure the Nighthawks games keep everyone entertained. There are giveaways, food trucks, and silly contests like dizzy bat races, where participants spin around with their forehead on a bat before attempting to run a straight line.

“What I tell people is it is a baseball game-slash-carnival-slash-farmer’s market,” Crane said.

“We want to be able to appeal to a broad base of fans and people in this community.”

One thing that’s sure to appeal to fans is the price: Admission to all homes games is free. It’s a policy started after Covid, when nobody was sure how quickly people would return to crowds and live events.