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Schooners Earn 11-Inning Win in Early Fraser Affair

06/15/2022 4:03 PM

LYNN, Mass. -- The Mystic Schooners were one run better in extra innings Wednesday as they scored twice in the 10th and edged past the North Shore Navigators with another run in the 11th for a 5-4 win in New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) action at Fraser Field.

Five of the nine combined runs were scored after the ninth inning, but North Shore slipped to 1-6 following its third consecutive loss and Mystic improved to 4-2.

Reigning NECBL Pitcher of the Week Jake Gigliotti (Northeastern) turned in another strong performance on the mound in a game that was scoreless through five innings. Gigliotti worked six complete frames, allowed just one run on three hits and struck out nine.

On the offensive side, North Shore had an 8-5 advantage in the hit column as center fielder Jake McElroy (Holy Cross) went 2-for-5 in his second straight multi-hit effort, and catcher Mike Gervasi’s (UMass) two-hit effort included a one-out double that spearheaded a two-run eighth inning.

After Gigliotti allowed just a single hit through five frames, the Schooners tagged him for a run in the sixth on third baseman Charlie Pagliarini’s (Fairfield) line single to right.

North Shore was unable to break through until the eighth inning, despite leaving multiple runners on base in both the fourth and seventh. Peabody native second baseman Jake Gustin (Bryant) opened the fourth with a line double to right, but a fly ball and line drive double play left him and Gervasi stranded.

The bases were left loaded in the seventh after a hit batter, first baseman Jake Bullard’s (Stetson) single to right and a McElroy knock to the left side of the infield, but Mystic reliever Matthew Nunan (Boston College) ended the threat with a strikeout.

The Navs finally marked the scoreboard in the eighth, sparked by Gervasi’s triple deep into the left-center alley. Three batters later, left fielder Nathan Blasick (West Virginia) put North Shore in the lead with a two-out, two-run double to center.

Mystic was down to its final strike before extending the game in the ninth. Navs reliever Gannon Kadlecik (Radford) had pitched two scoreless innings before issuing two walks and allowing designated hitter Troy McGirt (Wake Forest) to reach safely and Paglarini to score on a throwing error.

The teams traded two-spots in the 10th inning, beginning with Mystic pinch runner-turned-catcher Jackson DeJohn (St. Bonaventure) hitting a two-run single to center. 

In the bottom half, back-to-back wild pitches allowed Gervasi -- who was the NECBL-rule International Tie Breaker runner on second base -- to score. A Blasick double play ball following consecutive walks scored right fielder Trace Willhoite (Lipscomb) to score the tying run, but the Navs got no further.

In the 11th, second baseman Logan Allen’s (Bryant) sacrifice fly to right scored the eventual go-ahead run for Mystic. Right fielder Jimmy Chatfield (Yale) began the frame on second and stole third on the first pitch.

Schooner lefty Bowen Baker (Fairfield) allowed a hit to McElroy and walked Gustin in the home half of the 11th, but a foul pop and a strikeout ended the game with the bases loaded. Baker worked the final two frames to secure a third straight win for North Shore’s Coastal Division rival.

The Navs conclude a two-game homestand at 6:35 p.m. Thursday when they host the Bristol Blues at Fraser Field.