DANBURY, Conn. — In a New England Collegiate Baseball League game that featured four home runs for each team and 29 combined hits, the North Shore Navigators used four runs over the final three innings to edge past the host Danbury Westerners for a 12-10 Saturday win at Rogers Park.
North Shore improved to 12-15 following its second consecutive win, while Danbury’s mark is nearly identical at 11-15.
Four different players had multiple hits and four drove in multiple runs for North Shore. Catcher Jacob Jarrell (Clemson) went 2-for-3 with two RBI and three runs scored, including the team’s first of four homers. Third baseman Jake Berger (Harvard), shortstop Henry Kaczmar (Ohio State) and designated hitter Jackson Hornung (Kansas State) were also repeat hitters.
Hornung and Berger joined Jarrell in going deep before center fielder Evan Griffis (Stetson) made the most of his only hit, depositing the eventual game-winning, three-run shot over the left-field fence in the seventh.
The scoreboard turned early and often starting in the very first inning. After Danbury starter Matthew Semon (Post) posted a zero in the top of the frame, the hosts jumped on top on first baseman Luke Boynton’s (Georgia State) two-out, two-run home run to the opposite field.
North Shore’s home run party began with Jarrell socking a one-out bomb out to left in the top of the second. Semon worked around the solo blast to strike out in the side in the inning before Danbury added to its lead thanks to catcher Daniel Labrador’s (Stetson) homer.
The Navs made it a one-run game again in the third. Right fielder DJ Pacheco (Richmond) drew a leadoff walk and trotted from first across to third on Berger’s base hit before scoring through the back door as second baseman Brendan Jones (Holy Cross) grounded a double play ball.
A busy fourth inning for both sides began with the Navs scoring five runs. Left fielder Stan DeMartinis III (Bentley) got the visitors’ half started with a single and hustled around the bases on Jarrell’s RBI double. Hornung continued the big inning and broke a 3-3 tie with a two-out, two-run shot to straightaway center field two batters later.
After Pacheco reached with another walk that forced a call to the bullpen, Berger cleared the high fences in right for a two-run homer to become the seventh North Shore player to go deep this summer.
Danbury answered back with four runs of its own. Two singles preceded center fielder Billy Gerlott (Penn State) hitting a sac fly. After leadoff-hitting second baseman Javon Hernandez (Jacksonville State) singled, shortstop Sam Mongelli (Sacred Heart) highlighted his four-hit night with a three-run homer.
The Navs manufactured a fifth-inning run after Kaczmar singled and Griffis was hit by a pitch. Kaczmar swiped third and was able to score on an error that followed a dropped third strike.
After the two teams were held scoreless in two consecutive half-innings, Boynton singled home a run in Danbury’s half of the sixth and Griffis followed with his long ball to left in the first of the late frames. North Shore had a chance to extend, but a 9-2 putout cut down first baseman Brandon Drapeau (Saint Joseph’s) at the plate after pinch hitter Matt Chatelle (Merrimack) knocked a base hit off Danbury’s Tim Cianciolo (UMass Boston).
Winning North Shore reliever Kaden Humphrey (Stetson) exited the game with one out and the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth. Nick Davis (Northeastern) uncorked a wild pitch that allowed Hernandez to score and cut the Danbury deficit to 11-9, but a strikeout and fielder’s choice grounder ended the threat.
In the ninth, Jake McElroy (Holy Cross) made the most of his lone at-bat after replacing Pacheco and Chatelle, legging out an infield single that drove home Jarrell with an insurance run for the Navs.
Left fielder Bobby Zmarzlak (Maryland) hit a solo shot to begin the Westies’ half before Davis stranded two runners on base, notching his second save and securing Humphrey’s third win of the summer against no defeats.
Navs starter Nate Espelin (Dayton) struck out a season-high six batters over the first four innings and was followed by Croix Jenkins (NJIT), who pitched a scoreless fifth with two strikeouts. Humphrey worked 1.1 of the final three innings to post the win.
For Danbury, Semon was charged with six runs on six hits in 3.2 innings. Jonathan Link (Trinity) took the loss in relief. Mongelli went 4-for-5 with three RBI and three runs scored, while three other Westerners had two hits each.
The Navs return to Fraser Field to host the NECBL-leading Newport Gulls for the second consecutive Sunday to begin a brief two-game homestand. First pitch is set for 5:05 p.m.
