NORTH ADAMS, Mass. -- The Upper Valley Nighthawks Tuesday used two North Adams errors and a three-run blast to rally for five ninth-inning runs and hand the North Adams SteepleCats a 7-4 loss at Joe Wolfe Field.

 

North Adams slipped to 16-22 on the year and lost a golden opportunity to gain ground on the two teams ahead of the ‘Cats for the third playoff spot in the New England Collegiate Baseball League’s Northern Division. Both Keene (18-19) and Winnipesaukee (17-21) lost on Tuesday night.

 

The ‘Cats have six games left but none against either the Swamp Bats or Muskrats. North Adams is on the road Wednesday for two games at the Valley Blue Sox and and have one more road trip on Thursday before coming home for the regular season’s final weekend.

 

That weekend includes Sunday’s NECBL All-Star Game.

 

The ‘Cats were anything but stellar in the ninth inning on Tuesday.

 

Reliever T.J. Pagan, who has six saves and brought a 1.90 ERA and a 4-2 lead into the ninth, started his outing by hitting the No. 9 hitter in the Upper Valley lineup.

 

Matt Sanders then singled for the Nighthawks to put runners on first and second with nobody out. Upper Valley then attempted to bunt both runners into scoring position, but a North Adams error allowed a runner to score all the way from second and put runners at the corners with nobody out.

 

A ground ball left second and third with one out, and the next man hit a ground ball to first. The throw home went to the backstop, allowing the tying run to score and bringing Al Molina to the plate with two men on.

 

Molina smashed a 1-1 pitch high into the night sky and over the left field fence to make it 7-4 and chase Pagan from the game.

 

Bryce Peterson went to the mound for North Adams and stopped the bleeding, but the damage was done.

 

Upper Valley closer Cory Gill needed just 10 pitches to strike out the side in the bottom of the ninth.

 

The first-place Nighthawks (27-13) jumped out to a 2-0 lead with four runs in the top of the fourth, but North Adams answered with a pair in the bottom of the frame.

 

Eddie Haus got things started with a one-out walk, and Ryan Schalch moved him over with a single to center. Taylor Lane’s RBI double scored Haus and moved Schalch to third, where he scored on Liam Sabino’s single.

 

In the fifth, North Adams took a 3-2 lead on Haus’ sacrifice fly to score Joe Gillette.

 

In the eighth, Dillon Paulson drove in Gillette to make it 4-2.

 

North Adams used six pitchers in the loss, including Haus, who started and went four innings, allowing two runs on six hits.