By Joshua Kummins

LYNN, Mass. -- The North Shore Navigators concluded their 2020 season on a high note, scoring three runs in the eighth inning en route to a 4-3 win over the Brockton Rox on Wednesday afternoon at Fraser Field.

The Navs earned their fourth win in six games to finish the summer with a 18-20 record, while Brockton dropped its third straight and fell to 19-20.

Six different North Shore players recorded hits for the Navs including Cam Climo (UMass Lowell) who scored two of the team’s four runs and earned the win on the mound after recording a strikeout while working around a bases-loaded jam. Swampscott native Dylan January (Franklin Pierce) recorded the game-winning single.

Brockton got the scoring going in the second inning as first baseman Mike Khoury (Brandeis) hit a leadoff home run to left-center field. Making his first start of the season, recent Swampscott grad Nick Reiser (Franklin Pierce) bounced back from the solo shot to retire the side in the following frame and finished his five innings of three-hit, two-run ball with six strikeouts.

Shortstop Sal Frelick (Boston College) recorded a third-inning single to conclude his second summer as a Navigator. The FCBL Top Pro Prospect finished Wednesday’s game with a franchise-record and league-leading .398 average.

An inning after Frelick’s knock, the Navs manufactured the game-tying run after Climo led off the inning with a walk. Climo swiped second and moved up another base on left fielder Tommy Seidl’s (Harvard) single through the left side.

After Rox reliever Patrick Webler (Southern Connecticut State) recorded his first strikeout in relief of Logan Maitland (UMass Dartmouth), second baseman Jake McElroy (Holy Cross) drove home North Shore’s first run of the game on a single through the right-side hole.

Brockton brought across its second run of the night in the fourth as center fielder Evan Sleight (Rutgers) hit a sacrifice fly to right. Shortstop Jake Gelof (Virginia) led off the frame with a double to right. Cedric Gillette (Merrimack) struck out two batters during his first inning of relief for the Navs before Sleight’s fielder’s choice grounder extended the Brockton lead to 3-1 in the seventh.

North Shore won the game during an eighth inning that began with center fielder Ben Malgeri (Northeastern) drawing a walk to reach base for the third time. Climo was then hit by a one-out pitch before Seidl walked and right fielder Jack Whorf’s (UMass) fielder’s choice knocked home the tying run. McElroy followed with a walk in his next trip to the bat, and January finished off the scoring with a line single to center.

After Brockton’s Patrick DeSalvo (Georgetown) finished playing all nine positions by recording a strikeout, McElroy moved from the infield to the mound and worked around a two-out runner in scoring position to post a strikeout of his own and lock down the save.

Wednesday’s game marked the end of North Shore’s 13th summer of collegiate baseball and its ninth in the Futures League. Throughout the offseason, stay up to date on the latest Navs news by visiting nsnavs.com and following the team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.