By Gabbi Riggi
An eighth inning triple by Tyler Kapuscinski gave the North Shore Navigators a 4-3 win against the Worcester Bravehearts on Wednesday night.
Joey Pena (St. Thomas Aquinas) started the late game rally with a leadoff walk and was joined on base by Daane Berezo (VCU) who made it safely to first after laying down a clean bunt. Both were brought in on a thundering triple by Tyler Kapuscinski (Marist) to give the Navigators the late game lead.
“He (Kapuscinski) had a really big hit there, and that’s why we let him bat with (runners on) first and second and nobody out,” Navigators manager John Zizzo said. “He’s been clutch all year and did it again there. This group has shown a lot of character to come back and win.”
The victory gave the Navigators their tenth win of the year, as they improved to 10-16-0 on the season, while the Bravehearts fell to 12-16-0 to fall to last place in the western division.
The Navigators scored first on the night, getting help from the bottom of the order. Nine hitter Brad Douglas (Rhode Island College) hit a single between short and third. He stole second base and advanced to third on an error by the catcher and was brought home by a shallow single by Pena.
Pena went on to steal second and advanced again on a single by Berezo. The pair would advance forward on an attempted pickoff called a balk by starter Barker, giving the Navigators a 2-0 lead.
Two hits by Worcester quickly tied the game back up in the top of the seventh on a two run home run by Joe Caico, who now sits at second on the FCBL home run leaderboard. Chris Pennell (St. Thomas Aquinas) came in with two runners on. Pennell hit Ricciardi in the back to load the bases and walked in the leading run on four pitches to make it 3-2.
Navigators’ starter Austen Michel (Dartmouth) pitched a seven inning no-hitter, striking out four through six and two third innings. Two errors allowed the Bravehearts to put runners on without consequence; Mariano Ricciardi’s single in the top of the sixth would break up the bid.
Chris Pennell (St. Thomas Aquinas) would earn the victory in 2 and one third innings relief, as he struck out two and walked two batters.
The Navigators host two more during the week, with the Martha’s Vineyard Sharks playing at 7pm Thursday and the Pittsfield Suns playing at 7pm on Friday.
