NORTH ADAMS, Mass. (July 13, 2025) 一 Nick Hunkele’s complete-game pitching performance propelled the North Adams SteepleCats to a 1-0 win over the visiting North Shore Navigators in Sunday afternoon’s New England Collegiate Baseball League game at Joe Wolfe Field.

North Shore slipped to 11-18 on the summer, falling a run short of its third consecutive win this weekend. North Adams padded its lead on the fourth and final North Division playoff spot to two games as it moved to 13-16.

Elliott Eaton (Princeton) was outstanding in his first start of the season for the Navs, striking out a season-high five across four innings of scoreless, one-hit ball. Eaton entered the day with 11 relief appearances, which tied for tops on the team.

Following Eaton, John Milewski (Lafayette) and Colin Dowdle (Holy Cross) threw scoreless innings out of the bullpen, as the game remained scoreless until the bottom of the eighth.

Shortstop Jack Rickheim (Harvard) went 2-for-3 to lead North Shore offensively against Hunkele, a Merrimack righty who allowed just five base hits and one walk while striking out 12 in his 115-pitch gem. 

Eaton dealt a perfect first before stranding four baserunners across his final three innings, including two in the fourth when he lunged off the mound and caught a popped-up sacrifice bunt attempt by North Adams third baseman Alex Mendes (Mount St. Mary’s).

Milewski worked a flawless fifth with the help of two great plays from North Shore outfielders. Nater Wachter (UConn) made an over-the-shoulder catch on SteepleCats right fielder Bobby Stang (Dayton) in deep center for the second out, then left fielder Alec Welshans’ (La Salle) sliding catch to rob leadoff-hitting second baseman JT Thompson (Rutgers) ended the frame.

After North Shore reliever Gus Magill (Cornell) erased a pair of baserunners in a scoreless seventh inning, the hosts produced the only run they needed on Mendes’ infield single which scored Thompson.

North Shore’s offense got going in the second when Wachter lined a one-out single to right and stole second. A wild pitch on ball four to designated hitter Jackson Powers (Saint Anselm) moved Wachter to third, but a tag-out at home on an attempted double steal ended the inning.

The Navs also threatened without scoring in the third, as Rickheim hit a one-out infield single and right fielder Ethan Wilson (Winthrop) followed up with one of his own two batters later. 

Powers dropped down a two-out bunt single off Hunkele in the seventh, while Rickheim added a one-out knock and stole second in the eighth. The North Adams righty recovered, though, and struck out two in a 1-2-3 ninth to finish the game.

The Navs begin the final week before the NECBL All-Star Game on Tuesday when they welcome the Vermont Mountaineers to Fraser Field for the first time all summer for a doubleheader. First pitch is set for 4:05 p.m.