LYNN, Mass. (June 28, 2025) 一 A six-run start over the first three innings lifted the North Shore Navigators to their second win over the Upper Valley Nighthawks this week, defeating the North Division rival 6-3 in Saturday’s New England Collegiate Baseball League game at Fraser Field.
North Shore earned its second win in four games to improve to 6-14, while Upper Valley’s record dropped to an even 9-9.
The Navs tallied three hits in each of their offensive frames, scoring twice in the first inning and four more times in the third. Shortstop Jack Rickheim (Harvard) went 2-for-4 with an RBI double and a run scored, while left fielder Michael Perazza (Florida Atlantic) hit a run-scoring triple as part of a two-RBI performance.
North Shore scored first for a fifth consecutive game, with right fielder Sam Parks (Stonehill) hitting a leadoff single to left and stealing second to start the first-inning rally. Center fielder Ethan Wilson (Winthrop) was then hit by a pitch, and after third baseman Davis Baker (Penn) singled to load the bases, Perazza drove home the opening run on a fielder’s choice grounder.
Two batters after Perazza’s opening RBI, designated hitter Jack Gold (Pomona-Pitzer) doubled the Navs’ lead on a two-out, line-drive double into the right-field corner.
With North Shore starter Oisin Lee (Notre Dame) stranding a leadoff runner in the first and benefiting from a double play turned behind him in the second, the hosts’ lead stayed at 2-0 until the third when second baseman Anthony Brotz (Marist) hit an RBI infield single.
Eight batters came to the plate as the Navs broke the game open with a four-run third. Perazza made it a 3-0 game when he ripped an RBI triple to deep center, scoring Baker who drew a leadoff walk. Catcher Aukai Kea (Vanderbilt) continued the offense with a sacrifice fly.
After Upper Valley starter Tyler Hemmisch (Minnesota) recorded his second out of the inning, Rickheim doubled to left to bring home another run and second baseman Simmi Whitehill (Monmouth) followed with an RBI single of his own that bounced out of charging-out shortstop Nicholas Mazzotta’s (Wagner) glove in shallow center.
The Nighthawks got two runs back in a three-hit fourth. Mazzotta knocked a two-out RBI single before a fielding error two batters later also brought in a run. Sean Zaslaw (Bryant) came in to clean up the situation and wound up earning his first win in relief, tossing 1.2 scoreless and hitless innings.
The North Shore offense recorded just one hit after breaking the game open in the third, but it was another solid night’s work from the bullpen to preserve the win. Zach Kittrell (Alabama) followed Zaslaw and stranded the bases loaded with the help of two strikeouts in a scoreless sixth, while Raymond McNaught (Winthrop) struck out one across a pair of hitless frames.
North Andover native Ryan Griffin (Northeastern) was called upon for the save and earned his first of the summer in unconventional 1-2-3 fashion, as Perazza nabbed his left field counterpart Cole Fellows (Columbia) trying to stretch a single into a double with one out in the ninth. Griffin followed with a strikeout to slam the door shut.
The Navs continue their busy home weekend with a Sunday doubleheader against the league-leading Keene SwampBats. First pitch is set for 1:35 p.m. The team will also conclude the month of June at home on Monday night, hosting the North Adams SteepleCats for a 6:05 p.m. contest.