Sunday Game Story
The North Shore Navigators completed their Connecticut road trip the same way it began: with a victory. They defeated the Bristol Blues on Sunday afternoon by a final score of 11-3 to head into their off day with a two game win streak.
The Navigators offense was working in full force on Sunday. In the last two games, they have combined to outscore their opponents by a total of 27-3. The Navigators scored 8 of their 11 runs in the last four innings. They managed to first take back the lead in the sixth inning after St. Thomas Aquinas product Joey Pena singled in a run to make the game 4-3 in favor of the Navs.
After that, they continued to pile on once again at the hands of Pena. In the seventh inning, he got hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to make it 5-0. He continued to do damage in the eighth inning when he cracked a two-run double that scored Conor Bawiec (Elmira College) and Christian Cabrera (Broward CC), making the game 9-3. Overall on the day, Pena went 2-5 and led the team with four RBIs in the contest.
The Navigators tacked on a couple more runs in the ninth inning thanks to an RBI single by Nick DiBenedetto (Trinity College) and an RBI groundout by Alex Brickman (Siena College). With the 11-3 lead, Sean O’Neill (Brandeis University) came on to close the game and sent the Blues down 1-2-3 to clinch the victory.
Another Navigator of note on offense was Jordan Roper (Marist College). Roper went 2-5 on the day and also walked and he scored two runs during the contest. He improved his average to a team leading .345 thanks to his effort.
The Navigators got a superb effort out of their relief pitcher Brian Burke (Curry College) in today’s outing. Burke went 3 and 2/3 innings on the day after a solid performance by starter Bobby Tramondozzi (UMass Boston). In his three plus innings of work, Burke was dominant. He did not allow a hit to the Blues, struck out three batters, and notched the win. He really took over after coming in to a tie game, and he allowed the Navigators to build their late lead.
The Navigators will return to action on Tuesday, July 26 when they take on the Blues in Bristol once again. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. The Navs will then return to Fraser Field on Wednesday, July 24 to take on the Blues once again at 7:00 p.m.
Saturday Game
The North Shore Navigators had a convincing win on Saturday night when they traveled to Torrington to take on the Titans. The team snapped their losing streak in an impressive fashion, beating the Titans by a final score of 16-0.
The story of the game for the Navigators was the effort of their starting pitcher, Cole O’Connor (Dartmouth). O’Connor pitched 6 and 1/3 innings on the day, and only allowed a total of three baserunners. He did not allow a hit until midway through the second inning, just before he was taken out of the game. He also added three strikeouts to his season total.
After O’Connor came in, Al Wallach (Framingham State) got some action and helped to shut down the Titans. He pitched 2 and 2/3 scoreless innings and struck out three batters. Wallach has not allowed a run on the season and his ERA stands at 0.00 as a result.
On offense, the Navigators got their unit working right away against the Titans and really set the tone from the start in the big win. In the first inning, the team loaded the bases and got a couple of runs on a Christian Cabrera (Broward CC) walk and a Jordan Roper (Marist College) steal. Roper is the first Navigator to steal home this season, and at the time it gave them a 2-0 lead. Roper went 4-6 on the day scoring three times, driving in two runs, and raising his batting average to a team leading .340.
The second inning was where they were able to do a big chunk of their damage. They piled on five runs to make it 7-0 thanks to four extra base hits. This included triples by Colby Maiola (UMass Lowell) and Conor Bawiec (Elmira College). Bawiec had a strong day batting out of the ninth slot, going 2-4 with two walks and two runs and picking up an RBI.
Alex Brickman (Siena College) was one of the big offensive stars of the day for the Navigators. He batted in the seventh slot during the game and went 3-5 on the day. In the fifth inning after a couple more high scoring frames, Brickman cracked a two run home run that made the Navigators lead 16-0. It was his fourth home run of the lead, putting him second on the team in that category behind Maiola.
Elsewhere on offense, MacDaniel Singleton (Salem State) had a strong showing. Singleton went 3-6 during the game and led the Navigators in RBIs with three and tied for the lead in runs scored with three. His season average is now at .310.
The Navigators will return to action on Sunday, July 24 when they travel to take on the Bristol Blues. First pitch for that game is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. They will return to Fraser Field on Wednesday, July 27 for a 7:00 p.m. matchup against the Blues.
