Top of Blue Sox lineup continues to crush

By Graham Goodman

The numbers don’t lie. The top of the Valley Blue Sox lineup has been the core of the team’s offense to start the season. A 14-6 victory over the Upper Valley Nighthawks on June 7 where the two through four hitters in the batting order recorded eight of the total 14 hits put an exclamation point next to that notion.

Through three games, that part of the lineup has accounted for 13 of the 25 Blue Sox’ hits this season. The one player who has stayed in that part of the lineup for all three games is shortstop Anthony Grabau (Fordham). 

Grabau had one of the best days at the plate of any player in the NECBL this season, going 4 for 6 with the first Blue Sox home run of 2026 in the win over Upper Valley.

“(I) feel good,” Grabau said. “(I’m) seeing the ball well, getting back early and seeing the ball up, that’s kind of all I was doing.”

Harmon, Edison Esquivel (San Francisco), Jack Myers (Georgia Southern), Chris Carson (Stony Brook), Anthony Tirado (UMass) and Nick Tomasetto (Seton Hall) have all joined Grabau toward the top of the lineup, each with success no matter where they have moved around in the order.

“I mean, they’re in there for a reason, right?” Head coach John Raiola said. “... I’ve been doing this a long time, and I’ve seen guys that maybe struggled at school come here and have a phenomenal summer, because there is talent.”

The Blue Sox offense has steadily improved with each game. After striking out 14 times in game one of the season, Valley only was rung up three times, while also recording its first three extra base hits of the season.

First baseman Trevor Harmon (San Francisco) said a part of the uprising in offense is simply an adjustment to a new environment.

“It takes some time to get adjusted to the wood bats for all of the guys and get our feet under us,” Harmon said. “Once we’re starting to get our rhythm and our timing back, we’re starting to connect and pick each other up.”

After an 0 for 4 start to the season, Harmon has settled into things, recording multi-hit games on back-to-back days.

Harmon has stayed in the heart of the Blue Sox lineup, surrounded by a group of lefties that has licked its chops at the sight of a right-handed pitcher. Of Valley’s 22 runs scored this season, 17 are off of right-handed arms. 

While some of this can be attributed to facing a greater number of right-handed pitchers, Raiola said some of the best bats on the Blue Sox roster come from the left side. 

“A lot of that is a matter of we get offered good players and we’re going to take good players,” Raiola said. “The ones that ended up coming here, a lot of them are left-handed, but we have guys that can handle left-handed pitching as well.”