Upper Valley Nighthawks third baseman James Love (Eastern Illinois) and Valley Blue Sox right-handed pitcher Dylan Reid (Brown) earned the league's first weekly awards of the 2026 season after standout performances.

Love, a native of Joliet, Illinois, has been one of the league's hottest hitters to begin the summer. Starting all three games for the Nighthawks, he led the league with eight hits and posted a league-best .615 batting average (8-for-13). He also led the NECBL with 12 total bases, highlighted by a triple in Upper Valley's season opener against the Sanford Mainers. Love’s strong start comes on the heels of an impressive sophomore season at Eastern Illinois, earning a spot on the All-OVC second team batting .333 with 18 doubles. Love led the team with a .473 on-base percentage and finished second in slugging percentage at .577.

Reid, a native of Sandy Springs, Georgia, turned in the league's most dominant start of the opening week on the mound. In Valley's season opener against the Newport Gulls, the right-hander tossed six hitless innings while striking out six and walking just one. Reid faced 20 batters and kept Newport off the scoreboard during his six innings of work. The Brown Bear is coming off a strong senior year in which he posted a 3.77 ERA and recorded 47 strikeouts.

The Valley Blue Sox, currently at 2-0-1, host the Danbury Westerners tonight at Mackenzie Stadium at 6:30pm. The Upper Valley Nighthawks (1-2) are off today before traveling to Alumni Field on Tuesday to face the Keene SwampBats at 6:35 p.m.

Week 1 Honor Roll - Position Players

Antonio Ducatelli (Central Connecticut), Bristol Blues, CF

Ronan Donahue (Sacred Heart), Danbury Westerners, IF

T.J Schuyler (Indiana), Keene SwampBats, C

Teddy Cashman (Lafayette), Danbury Westerners, OF

Week 1 Honor Roll - Pitchers

Robert Brown (Penn State), North Shore Navigators

Thomas Achey (Stetson U), Martha Vineyard Sharks

Frank Spirito (UConn), Bristol Blues

Andrew Kapica (Fordham), Sanford Mainers

The New England Collegiate Baseball League is a wooden bat collegiate summer league featuring teams across all six New England states. Since its founding in 1994, the NECBL has produced more than 230 Major League Baseball alumni, including nearly 30 first-round MLB Draft selections. For continuing coverage of the NECBL, visit NECBL.com and follow the league on X, Instagram, and Facebook.