With just a few nights to go till the playoffs, an offensive Tuesday night in the NECBL saw the North Division set its playoff bracket. North Adams swept their doubleheader against North Shore, while Vermont outdueled Sanford. Bristol rallied late and took down Ocean State. Newport shut out Martha’s Vineyard, the Schooners battled in a high-scoring win over Valley, and Danbury kept their playoff hopes alive with a win over Upper Valley.

North Division

North Adams SteepleCats vs North Shore Navigators - Game One

Final Score/7: North Adams 4, North Shore 3

Lynn, MA – In this week's iteration of the battle for Northern Massachusetts, the North Adams SteepleCats took game one of their double header, defeating the Navigators 4-3 in a back-and-forth match-up that saw a combined 14 hits from both teams. 

The Steeplecats struck first in the top of the second. Gabriel Natividad (Winthrop) singled to center field, driving in the first run, and then, later in the inning, he came around to score on a sacrifice fly. North Adams added another run in the third inning with a sacrifice fly. 

The Navigators struck back, answering two of the runs scored by North Adams. Davis Baker (UPenn)  trotted up to the plate and sent a ball soaring over the wall, driving home two runs, making it 3-2. The Navigators tied the game up in the sixth with Baker scoring on a balk by the SteepleCats’ pitcher. 

With the game tied heading into the seventh and final inning in the first game, the SteepleCats were able to take the lead with a triple to right field from Billy Howard (Ashland). The game ended on three strikeouts from the Navigators.

North Adams pitcher Sean Stephenson (Iona) was credited with the win, while his teammate Robert Stang (Dayton) was given the save. Cole Yannaco (Merrimack) was issued a loss for the Navigators.

Game Two is set to start at 6:40 pm

Game One Box Score

North Adams SteepleCats vs North Shore Navigators - Game Two

Final Score/7: North Adams 11, North Shore 0

Lynn, MA – The North Adams SteepleCats completed the Tuesday sweep of the Navigators with a dominant 11-0 victory, holding the Navigators to just four hits. 

The SteepleCats were quick to pounce on the Navigators, putting up five runs in the first inning. The scoring started with a Robert Stang (Dayton) RBI single. Stang then crossed home later in the inning. The SteepleCats added another run on a sacrifice fly and capped off the huge inning with a two-run RBI single from Michael Toth (UMass Amherst). North Adams added two more runs with a Stang solo home run and a Mike Palinski (Wabash Valley) RBI single that found the gap and rolled into right field. 

North Adams added one run in the fourth inning with a sacrifice fly and added two more runs in the fifth as Damian Rodriguez (Iona) reached first on an error, bringing in one run. This was followed up by another sacrifice fly. 

The game was capped off with one more run in the seventh as North Adams’ Stang added another RBI to his game total with a single into right field. 

Nicholas Noble (Fairleigh Dickinson) was given the win for the SteepleCats. Stefano Yozzo (Middlebury) was handed a loss for the Navigators. 

The SteepleCats return to the baseball diamond Wednesday night as they get set to face the Bristol Blues in the last game of their regular season. The North Shore Navigators get set to face the Danbury Westerners Wednesday afternoon in their final contest of the regular season.

Game Two Box Score 

Sanford Mainers vs. Vermont Mountaineers

Final Score: Vermont 8, Sanford 6

Montpelier, VT – The Vermont Mountaineers defeated the Sanford Mainers in a tight North Division battle. A close game throughout, the Mountaineers jumped in front in the sixth on a Joey Baran (Western Kentucky) home run and secured the victory.

Sanford took an early 3-0 lead in the first, with runs coming from Jorge Burgos (Southern New Hampshire), Jack Toomey (Boston College), and Brennan Hudson (Georgia). Vermont’s Max LaLime (Mars Hill) ripped a double in the bottom of the frame, scoring two, weakening Sanford’s early damage.

The Mainers were quick to respond, as Kyle Douin (Southern Maine) ripped an RBI single to put Sanford up 4-2. Vermont once again responded swiftly, with runs coming from Baran and Cristian Reyna (Messiah) to tie the game at four.

Vermont claimed its first lead in the fourth on a Matthew Minckler (Delaware) RBI, before Sanford tied the game right back up with a Hudson solo shot in the fifth. 

A big sixth inning was what the Mountaineers had been waiting for, as Reyna scored LaLime with a single before Baran’s two-run blast gave Vermont an 8-5 lead. Sanford could only respond with one run in the seventh, dropping this one by a final of 8-6.

With the loss, the Mainers fall to 22-21 but have already clinched a postseason berth. Vermont, meanwhile, climbs to 16-27, but unfortunately has already been eliminated from playoff contention. The Mountaineers have just one more game left on their schedule, a 6:35 pm contest tomorrow night at Keene, while Sanford hosts Danbury at 6:30 pm tomorrow with seeding implications on the line. 

Box Score