For the second straight night, the North Shore Navigators were engaged in a back and forth battle that ended in a loss for the team. The Navs dropped to 0-2 on the season after losing to the Nashua Silver Knights at Holman Stadium by a final score of 5-4.
Although the Navigators lost, the team still put up a great effort. Notably, the pitching staff made some major strides that helped keep them competitive.
After a rocky start to the game that saw starter Tommy Parsons only go 1/3 of an inning, the Navigators pitchers were really able to settle down and give a solid performance. Their success really started when Nick Malatesta took the mound in the fourth inning. The rising senior from St. Joseph’s College of Maine threw five plus innings of one-run baseball and struck out one batter.
Despite the solid pitching, the Navigators entered the ninth inning trailing 4-3. The team managed to come through in the clutch were able to score a game tying run. After a leadoff hit by Beau Myers, Riley Herold hit a one out single that advanced Myers to third. With two outs in the inning, Drew Delsignore singled in Myers to knot the game up at 4 apiece.
However, the Silver Knights rallied in the bottom of the ninth to quickly get the run back and win the game. Luke Glancy hit a walk-off, bases loaded single to end the Navigators’ hopes of making a comeback. Malatesta was unfortunately dealt the loss, even though the run that scored was an unearned run.
On offense, Navigators starting catcher Mike D’acunti continued his red hot start to the season. He went 1-3 on the night and scored 2 runs over the course of the game. D’acunti actually managed to reach base in all but one of his at bats, as he drew a walk, was hit by a pitch, and reached on a fielder’s choice in addition to his hit. He is currently batting .500 through the first two games.
Lynn native Kyle Devin also managed to play well for the Navigators. He recorded 2 RBIs on the night which ended up leading his team.
The Navigators will return to action on Saturday night, June 4th, in their home opener at Fraser Field. The gates to Fraser will open at 5 p.m. with the game time set for 6 p.m. against the Seacoast Mavericks.
