NEWPORT, R.I. (June 27, 2025) 一 The North Shore Navigators dropped their second consecutive one-run game, falling 4-3 to the two-time defending New England Collegiate Baseball League champion Newport Gulls on Friday night at Cardines Field.

North Shore fell to 5-14, while Newport improved to 13-6 and completed a two-game season series sweep.

Second baseman Simmi Whitehill (Monmouth) went 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored, while right fielder Sam Parks (Stonehill) scored North Shore’s other two runs.

The Navs wasted no time getting on the scoreboard first for a fourth straight game, as Parks lined a leadoff double into the right-field corner and scored as left fielder Nater Wachter (UConn) knocked an RBI single through the right side of the infield in the next at-bat in the top of the first.

North Shore starter Benjamin Rehkow (Winthrop) pitched a scoreless first by striking out two after issuing a leadoff walk, but Newport took the lead on the strength of a three-run, three-hit second inning. Designated hitter AJ Evasco (Kansas State) highlighted the inning with a two-run double before another run-scoring knock from center fielder Matthew Bolton (Binghamton).

The Gulls used back-to-back doubles by catcher Andreaus Lewis (Manhattan) and shortstop Randy Seymour (Michigan State) to add to their lead in the third. Elliott Eaton (Princeton) relieved Rehkow immediately thereafter, retiring the first three batters he faced to limit the damage in his first of two innings of work.

Following three scoreless innings from Newport reliever Aidan O’Connell (Vanderbilt), who came in for starter Kade Shatwell (Austin Peay) due to injury, the visitors climbed back within 4-3 during a two-run fifth.

Whitehill started North Shore’s fifth-inning rally with a one-out double into the left-field corner, and after Parks and Wachter drew back-to-back walks, third baseman Davis Baker’s (Penn) RBI fielder’s choice grounder to short plated a run. First baseman Alex Marot (Charleston Southern) then made it a one-run game when he drove Baker home on a single up the middle.

The Navs left runners on in each of the final two innings. Pinch runner Conor Moriarty (Bowdoin) was stranded on third after catcher Aidan Sengenberger (Seton Hall) was hit by a pitch to lead off the ninth. Newport’s Brennan Phillips (Oklahoma State) saved the victory for O’Connell, an opportunity set up by Jake Gregor’s (Louisville) four innings of one-hit, shutout ball.

It was another strong night for North Shore’s bullpen, as Eaton, Joseph Hauser (Northeastern), Swampscott native Pierce Friedman (Maine) and Cole Yennaco (Merrimack) all pitched scoreless ball. Hauser fanned three across his two innings. After a hitless frame from Friedman, Yennaco struck out the side while working around two walks.

The Navs return home from their six-game road trip for four games over the next three days at Fraser Field, starting with a Saturday contest against the Upper Valley Nighthawks. First pitch is set for 5:05 p.m.