And here is @CodyMorissette with @emma_carman_ talking about his 3-run home run in the bottom of the 6th inning! pic.twitter.com/ZiWsdxNTYy

— North Shore Navigators (@NSNavigators) August 1, 2020

By Joshua Kummins

LYNN, Mass. -- The North Shore Navigators responded to three of the Nashua Silver Knights’ run-scoring innings and used designated hitter Cam Climo’s (UMass Lowell) two-out single in the ninth to edge out a 7-6 win in Friday night’s Futures Collegiate Baseball League game at Fraser Field.

North Shore improved to 10-11 on the season with its second win in three games, while second-place Nashua had a stretch of back-to-back wins ended as it fell to 14-10.

After Nashua reliever Hunter Owen (Vanderbilt) issued back-to-back, one-out walks to right fielder Ben Malgeri (Northeastern) and first baseman Logan Bravo (Harvard), shortstop Cody Morissette’s (Boston College) strikeout opened up the door for Climo to launch the game-winning single over the head of the Silver Knights’ Ben Rounds (Harvard) in right field.

Center fielder Sal Frelick (Boston College) and second baseman Alex Haba (Merrimack) paced the North Shore offense with two hits apiece from the top and bottom of the batting order, respectively. Frelick and Morissette launched homers to right field in the sixth and seventh innings, with the latter Eagle finishing a three-RBI night.

North Shore starter Tom Chmielewski (Princeton) worked around three baserunners over the first two innings before the Silver Knights loaded the bases and scratched across the game’s opening run on first baseman Brett Anderson’s (Hartford) bases-loaded walk in the third. To start the frame, Rounds and left fielder John Mead (Franklin Pierce) posted one-out infield singles in between designated hitter Dominic Keegan’s (Vanderbilt) walk.

The Silver Knights extended their lead to 3-0 with a two-run fourth. After center fielder Thomas Crowley (Merrimack) and third baseman Nick Shumski (Merrimack) beat out consecutive infield singles with one out, Crowley scored on Chmielewski’s wild pitch and Shumski followed on Keegan’s sacrifice fly to right.

Despite allowing three runs on five hits and four walks, Chmielewski struck out a season-high six batters over his 3.1 innings of work in his second start of the summer. Saugus native Todd Tringale (Northern Essex CC) followed Chmielewski out of the bullpen for the next 1.2 scoreless frames before the Navs posted a five-run inning in their half of the sixth.

All nine North Shore batters came to the plate en route to posting the crooked number, starting with Haba’s leadoff single to center. Malgeri got the Navs on the board two batters later with a run-scoring triple into the left-center gap before Bravo drew a walk and Morissette greeted Nashua reliever Shea Ryan (Assumption) by launching his first homer of the summer over the right-field fence to give North Shore a 4-3 lead.

Left fielder Ryan Cervone (Northeastern) kept the line moving with a two-out single, and third baseman Jake McElroy (Holy Cross) sent a double into the right-field corner to give the Navs a bit of insurance with a 5-3 lead.

After Nashua second baseman Luke Beckstein (Kansas State) tied the score with a two-out, two-run single in the top of the seventh, the Navs jumped ahead again on the strength of Frelick’s second homer of the summer during the following frame. The lead didn’t last long, however, as Nashua put two-out runners at the corners and Keegan scored on a wild pitch to tie the score at 6-6.

As Owen entered the game in the eighth, Cervone was hit by a pitch and stole second to move into scoring position. The Silver Knight southpaw recovered to strike out the next three batters he faced to keep the score tied.

Max Meier (Stanford) worked around Beckstein’s leadoff single to strike out two in ninth, setting up the walk-off opportunity and ultimately earning his first win of the season. The Navs were down to the final out of regulation as Morissette struck out following the consecutive walks, but Climo sent a 2-2 pitch into right to score Malgeri -- who stole second -- with his second run of the game to win it.

Beckstein and Mead combined for half of Nashua’s offense with two hits apiece. Owen was tagged with his first loss as a Silver Knight.

The Navs return to action at 3 p.m. Saturday when they travel to face the Brockton Rox in a doubleheader at Campanelli Stadium. The two teams return to Fraser Field on Sunday for a single 6 p.m. contest.