.@ShaneO_10 (@StonehillBASE) had a 2 RBI-single in the bottom of the 7th to get the Navigators rolling! Hear from Shane and @emma_carman_ post-game. pic.twitter.com/dcv202jDBT

— North Shore Navigators (@NSNavigators) August 14, 2020

By Joshua Kummins

LYNN, Mass. -- It was an old-fashioned pitcher’s duel on Thursday night at Fraser Field as the North Shore Navigators held the Brockton Rox to just five hits and scored runs in both the eighth and ninth innings on the way to a 3-0 win in Futures Collegiate Baseball League action.

North Shore curbed its three-game losing streak and improved to 15-18 on the season, while third-place Brockton fell to 17-17 as its four-game winning streak came to an end.

Left-handed starter Cam Seguin (UMass Lowell) was dominant during his fourth start of the summer for the Navs, allowing just three hits and two walks while striking out 10 over seven scoreless innings.

Catcher Shane O’Halloran (Stonehill) led the way in just his second start as a Navigator, going 2-for-3 with a pair of RBI. The Burlington native recorded two of North Shore’s six hits.

Seguin worked around baserunners in each of his first two innings, while Brockton lefty Tim Noone (Babson) retired the first six Navs he faced before right fielder Jack Whorf (UMass) drew a leadoff walk and O’Halloran dropped a single into the shallow outfield to start the third inning. Two strikeouts and a fielder’s choice erased North Shore’s baserunners and ended the frame.

Left fielder Cam Climo’s (UMass Lowell) two-out single in the fourth was the only other hit before the Navs scratched across their first two runs of the game against Rox reliever Michael Quigley (UMass Lowell) a few innings later.

In the seventh, center fielder Tommy Seidl (Harvard) dropped a leadoff single into right and hustled into third base after first baseman Logan Bravo’s (Harvard) infield knock drew a throw across the diamond. With two runners on, Whorf drew a walk and O’Halloran dropped the two-run hit into shallow center to get the Navs on the board.

After Rox catcher Cal Christofori (Yale) drew a leadoff walk in the fifth, Seguin retired the final nine batters he faced on the starting mound for North Shore. His seven-inning start marks the longest by a North Shore pitcher this summer.

Seguin became just the third Navs pitcher in as many summers to fan double-digit batters in a game, joining teammate Gavin Sullivan (Stetson) who turned the feat with 11 K’s against the Rox on July 25, 2019.

Peter Sakellaris (Virginia Tech) worked around a leadoff runner in the eighth inning to post yet another zero, and the Navs added an insurance run on Ryan Cervone’s (Northeastern) two-out single into center after he replaced Climo defensively during the previous half-inning. Designated hitter Ben Malgeri (Northeastern) started off the second and final scoring frame with a one-out walk followed by a stolen base.

Brockton left fielder Evan Sleight (Rutgers) hit a two-out single in the ninth, but Derek Goldrick (Quinnipiac) dialed up a strikeout to help finish off his first save and North Shore’s second team shutout of the summer.

After Noone struck out seven Navs over six innings of two-hit, scoreless ball, Quigley was charged with the loss for Brockton. He allowed two runs on three hits and a walk during the home team’s first of back-to-back scoring frames on the night.

The Navs will make their first and only trip of the season to Leominster to face the defending champion and first-place Worcester Bravehearts on Friday night. First pitch at Doyle Field is set for 6 p.m.