North Shore Navigators vs Sanford Mainers

Final Score: North Shore 7, Sanford 8

Sanford, ME – The Sanford Mainers defeated the North Shore Navigators 8-7 in a close battle that saw the Mainers put up a five run fourth inning as well as staving off a comeback from the Navigators. With this win, the Miners moved to 22-20 on the season, securing a spot in the year's post season. 

The Mainers, eager to secure that spot, jumped out to the earlier lead in the bottom of the second as Sam Miller (Binghamton) singled to the shortstop, driving home the first run of the game. 

The Navigators took the lead, briefly, in the top of the fourth inning. Alec Welshans (La Salle) doubled to bring in a run and Aidan Sengenberger (Seton Hall) singled to drive in another. Later in the inning, Jack Rickheim (Harvard) drove in the third run with a double to the left field. 

The Mainers took the lead with a huge fourth inning, putting up five runs, starting with a RBI walk followed by another Sam Miller  RBI single. Brendan Sencaj (Bentley) singled to right field, adding another two runs to the board, giving the Mainers the lead at 5-3. The final run was scored by a sacrificed fly. 

Sam Miller was able to score on an error by the North Shore catcher in the sixth inning. The Navigators comeback began in the seventh inning as Aidan Segenberger singled, driving in two runs bringing the score to 7-5. In the eighth inning, Jaydon Aukai Kea (Vanderbilt) singled to the right fielder, which forced an error, allowing for two runs to come across and tying the game heading into the final inning and a half.

The Mainers quickly stole the lead back and put a stop to the Navigators comeback in the bottom half of the eighth inning with a Zack Kent (SUNY Binghamton) sacrifice fly. 

The Mainer pitcher Sam Mitchell (Alabama Tuscaloosa) was given the win while his counterpart, Pierce Freidman (Maine Orono) was handed a loss. 

The Mainers return to action Tuesday night as they get set to face the Vermont Mountaineers in a battle of the north. The North Shore Navigators get set to face the North Adams SteepleCats in a doublehead match-up 

Box Score

Vermont Mountaineers vs. Upper Valley Nighthawks

Final Score: Upper Valley 6, Vermont 5

White River Junction, VT- The Nighthawks hosted the Mountaineers at Maxfield Sport Complex for a thrilling matchup between two Northern New England teams. The offense was basically nonexistent until the top of the fourth inning, which was kickstarted by Brandon Buecker (Monmouth) knocking in two runs on a double to put Vermont up 2-0. Joey Pagano (St Josephs) followed up with an RBI single to add on another run and increase the Mountaineer lead to 3-0. In the bottom of the fourth, Upper Valley would fire back when Cole Fellows (Columbia) drove in a run with a single to put the Nighthawks down 3-1. Cameron Boardman (Hartford) would then ground out to the first baseman, driving in Fellows to put Upper Valley down by one at 3-2. 

The score would remain 3-2 until the bottom of the ninth, when Ryan Presiano (Wake Forest) scored on a wild pitch to keep the game alive for the Nighthawks, tying the game at 3-3 to send it into extras. 

Vermont would take full advantage of the extra inning runner, when Elliot Miles (UMass Boston) drove in the go-ahead run to put Vermont up 4-3. Miles would later come around to score on a wild pitch to add an insurance run for the Mountaineers, sending them into the bottom of the tenth up 5-3. 

The Nighthawks kept the fight alive in their half of the tenth, kicked off by AJ Brotz (Marist) driving in the extra inning baserunner on a double to put Upper Valley down by 5-4. Brooks Barber (Wabash Valley) would then drive in Brotz to tie the game at 5-5 with an incredibly clutch RBI double. Ryan Presiano (Wake Forest) would come up to bat with the winning run on base and deliver, driving in Barber on a single to out-clutch his double, winning the game for the Nighthawks at 6-5. 

Upper Valley improves to 18-24 while Vermont falls to 15-27. 

Box Score 

Keene SwampBats vs. North Adams SteepleCats 

Final Score: Keene 11, North Adams 4

North Adams, MA- The SteepleCats hosted the North Division leading SwampBats for a dominant game by the dominant team in the North. The home team however, was able to get on the board first when Qwynn Ahern (UPenn) hit an RBI double to drive in the first run of the game, putting North Adams up 1-0 in the bottom of the first. 

Ripken Reese (Kent State) would deliver in the top of the third, hitting an RBI double to tie up the game at one apiece. Keene would get the rally started in the top of the fourth when TJ Schuyler (Indiana) hit an RBI single to drive in the go-ahead run and give the SwampBats the lead at 2-1. Marshall Lispey (Florida Atlantic) followed up with an RBI double to increase the lead to 3-1. Lipsey would then score on a passed ball to make the score 4-1, which was followed by Ripken Reese also scoring a wild pitch to further increase the lead to 5-1. Nick Romano (Florida Atlantic) would cap off the rally with a two-RBI single, making the score 7-1 Keene. 

The SwampBats had another electric inning in the top of the seventh, which was put into gear when Marshall Lipsey (Florida Atlantic) drove in a pair of runs on a single to give Keene a 9-1 lead. Ripken Reese (Kent State) and NECBL All-Star Game MVP Jack Herring (East Carolina) would each drive in a run on their own respective RBI singles, putting the SwampBats up 11-1. 

The SteepleCats would not go down without a fight. In the top of the ninth, North Adams got a little rally started when Sean Stephenson (Iona) hit an RBI double to drive in a run and make the score 11-2. Nelphie Lopez (Stetson) proceeded to drive in Stephenson with an RBI single, and in turn Lopez was driven in on a Max Palinski (Wabash Valley) RBI single to put the cats down 11-4 in the bottom of the ninth with two outs. Unfortunately, the late-game efforts wouldn’t do it as Keene would take the win by a solid run differential at 11-4. 

Keene improves to a league-best 31-12 while North Adams falls to 19-22. 

Box Score