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Navs Well Represented at FCBL All-Star Game

07/16/2019 11:00 PM

By Joshua Kummins

PITTSFIELD, Mass. -- It was a historic Futures Collegiate Baseball League All-Star Game for the North Shore Navigators on Tuesday night at Wahconah Park as a franchise-record seven players took the field and combined for three hits, two runs scored, and two scoreless innings pitched, while three others participated in Scout Day.

Andrew Olszak (Southern Maine), Cam Seguin (UMass Lowell), and Beau Dana (Dickinson) represented the FCBL’s first-place team on the victorious Hillies, who recorded 16 hits during the 8-2 victory. Seguin earned Most Outstanding Pitcher honors after dealing a pair of strikeouts as a reliever in the sixth inning.

Olszak became the first-ever Navigator to record multiple hits in an All-Star Game, going 2-for-5 with a run scored. On the opposite side, Sean Lawlor (Flagler) went 1-for-2 for the Electrics after leaving the yard twice during the Home Run Derby earlier in the day.

In addition to the record representation, first-year field manager Mike Odenwaelder and pitching coach Ariel Ramos managed the Hillies dugout. Odenwaelder was chosen to lead an All-Star squad as the Navs entered the mid-season break atop the FCBL standings with a 23-17 record, ahead of the second-place Brockton Rox by 1.5 games.

The Hillies took a 3-0 lead in the second inning and never looked back. Olszak took a one-out single the other way to right in the third before helping his team extend its lead with two more runs two innings later.

In the fifth, the Danvers native lined a single over Pittsfield second baseman Jack Culumovic’s (Pensacola State) head and stole second before sliding around the tag to score on catcher Jackson Petersen’s (Penn) sacrifice fly. Olszak was the starting second baseman for the Hillies and moved to left field halfway through the game.

The Electrics scored their lone runs in the third and fifth, but Lawlor made his mark on the stat sheet with a one-out single through the shortstop hole and a stolen base in the fourth. Ben Malgeri (Holy Cross) was hit by a pitch during his first plate appearance in the next frame and scored the visiting team’s second run on a double steal and following error.

Seguin worked around a hit batter during his two-thirds of an inning, but he struck out Nashua’s Kyle Sandstrom (Charleston Southern) and Culumovic to post a zero. The league’s top closer with 12 saves, Marblehead’s Dana finished his ninth inning with a strikeout after Navs teammate Colin Wetterau (St. John’s) ripped a fly ball to deep center for the first out.

Tyler MacGregor (Columbia) was also selected to the Electrics roster, but the former St. John’s Prep star did not play in the game due to injury. At the time of last week’s All-Star announcement, MacGregor had played in 23 games this summer and led the FCBL with his .384 average.

In addition, Logan Bravo (Harvard) participated in Scout Day activities including batting practice, ground balls, and a 60-yard dash, while Dominic Freeberger (UNC Asheville) and newcomer Nick Powers (New England College) threw bullpens as part of a group of selected pitchers.

The Navs resume their regular season with three consecutive home games at Fraser Field, beginning at 7 p.m. Thursday against the Westfield Starfires.