North Shore Navigators vs. Upper Valley Nighthawks

Final Score: Navigators 6, Nighthawks 3

Lynn, MA - The North Shore Navigators added a win to their season total Saturday afternoon as they defeated the visiting Upper Valley Nighthawks 6-3. Despite not leading in the hits category, the Navigators held the lead the entire game. 

The scoring started off in the bottom of the first with the North Shore’s Sam Parks (Stonehill) scored following a ground out. Later in the inning, Jack Gold (Pomona-Pitzer) bounced a ball over the outfield wall for an RBI ground rule double. 

The Nighthawks were able to answer one of the first inning runs with an Anthony Brotz (Marist) RBI single in the top of the third. However, the Navigators pulled away in the bottom of the third. Michael Perazza (FAU) tripled to bring in the first run. He then came  around to score on a sacrifice fly. Jack Gold and Simmi Whithill (Monmouth) scored the next two runs following a double and single, respectively.

The Nighthawks were able to grab two more runs back in the top of the fourth. Nick Shuhet (Rider) came home on an RBI single and Michael Trommer (Bucknell) was able to find his way home on an error by the North Shore shortstop. However, the small burst from Upper Valley wasn’t enough as the Navigators were able to keep them off the board with stellar defensive play.

The Navigators pitcher, Sean Zaslaw (Bryant), was credited with the win and his fellow Navigator, Ryan Griffin (Northeastern) was issued a save on the season. The Upper Valley ace Tyler Hemmesch (Minnesota) was given a loss on the season.

The North Shore Navigators are back in action as they face Keene in a double header Sunday night. The Upper Valley Nighthawks return to action Monday night as they host the Newport Gulls.

See the Box Score here

Keene SwampBats vs Sanford Mainers

Final Score: SwampBats 12, Mainers 1

Keene, NH – The Keene SwampBats defeated the Sanford Mainers 12-1 Saturday evening at Alumni Field, winning their league-best 16th game of the season. The SwampBats' late offensive surge put the game out of reach, but the pitching was also excellent, allowing one run on six hits as a staff.

Xavier Perez (Houston) got the scoring started for Keene in the home half of the first when he launched his second home run of the season with Jack Herring (East Carolina) on base. Ty Mainolfi (Boston College) added another run in the frame with an RBI hit that scored Ripken Reese (Kent State) and made it 3-0 SwampBats.

In the third, Sanford scored their lone run of the night off the bat of Trey King (Georgia), who hit his first home run of the season. Keene would respond right away in the bottom of the inning with Perez hitting his second home run of the night and making it 4-1.

In the seventh, the SwampBats capitalized on a three-run eighth with a bases-loaded wild pitch that scored one, followed by a TJ Schuyler (Indiana) two-RBI single. In the eighth, Keene erupted for five runs. With the bases loaded again, Gabriel Pitts (Central Connecticut State) drew a walk, Perez scored on a passed ball, and Schuyler unloaded with a three-run home run to make the score 12-1.

Ben Dean (Dayton) got the win for the SwampBats with 1.2 innings of shutout relief, while Alfred Mucciarone (UMass Lowell) was given the loss for the Mainers. Sanford will look to rebound on Monday at home against the Mystic Schooners. Keene will head on the road to face the North Shore Navigators Sunday afternoon.

Box Score

Vermont Mountaineers vs Mystic Schooners

Final Score: Schooners 16, Mountaineers 10

Montpelier, VT – The Mystic Schooners earned a high-scoring road win over the Vermont Mountaineers by a final score of 16-10. Every Schooners batter reached base on Saturday night’s game, with a run in seven of the nine innings.

Mystic opened up the game with some fireworks, with Michael Torres (Miami) ripping a two-run home run. Anthony Belisario (UConn) and Eric Cha (Northeastern) both notched RBI hits in the inning, Dennis Gamester (Sacred Heart) drew a patient bases-loaded walk, and AJ Aschettino (Northeastern) hit a sac fly to center, which scored Jake Kernodle (Princeton) and put the Schooners up 6-0 early.

Vermont scored two runs back in the bottom of the inning, with Sam Gates (George Washington) being the first run of the game. Gates scored off a Braeden Smith (Charleston) groundout, and then Jaylen Hernandez (Winthrop) scored on a wild pitch. The Schooners responded with four unanswered runs over the next three innings, with Belisario, Kernodle, and David Mendez (Vanderbilt) all tallying RBI hits. Mystic also got a run off of an error, one of the seven committed by the Mountaineers on the day.

At-bats that resulted in RBIs by Bennett Shealor (Gardner-Webb), Gates, and Hernandez got three runs back for Vermont in the fourth. The Mountaineers made it 10-6 in the bottom of the fifth with Thomas Schreck (United States Military Academy) joining the RBI party on a single to left field.

The Schooners blew the game open with four runs in the sixth that came from an error, an RBI groundout by Mendez, and a two-RBI single from Torres for his third and fourth RBIs of the night. Despite a few more runs from both sides, Mystic went on to win 16-10.

Jake Neely (Arizona State) was credited with the win for Mystic, going two innings of shutout relief. Joey Valentine (Wright State) was roughed up for six runs, getting the loss in this one. Mystic looks to take the momentum into their next matchup in Sanford against the Mainers on Monday evening. Vermont will look to regroup Sunday afternoon when they travel to take on the Ocean State Waves.

Box Score

​​

The New England Collegiate Baseball League is a wooden bat college summer league that fields teams in all six New England states. Partially funded by Major League Baseball, the New England League started play in 1994 and has sent over 230 alumni to the Major Leagues with nearly 30 alumni taken in the first round of the MLB Draft. For continuing coverage of the NECBL, visit NECBL.com and follow the league on Twitter, Instagram and on Facebook.