By Joshua Kummins

LYNN, Mass. -- In a dominant performance on both sides of the ball, the North Shore Navigators scored all the runs they needed in the early innings and held the Winnipesaukee Muskrats to just two hits on the way to an 11-0 win in Wednesday night’s New England Collegiate Baseball League action at Fraser Field.

North Shore improved to 18-17-2 on the season following its league-leading fifth shutout of the summer and fourth home win over the Muskrats in as many games. Winnipesaukee fell to 11-25 as its losing streak extended to eight games.

Luke Marshall (Stonehill) tossed six innings of one-hit, scoreless ball for the second time this summer, facing just two batters over the minimum and striking out a season-high 11, one shy of the most by any NECBL pitcher in 2021. The Swampscott native held a no-hitter through the first four frames and worked around a leadoff base hit to strike out the side in the fifth en route to his third win.

Third baseman Matthias Haas (Cal Poly) led North Shore’s 13-hit offensive attack, going 4-for-5 with a run scored and four RBI. Two other Navs were repeat hitters as catcher Cal Christofori (Santa Clara) and center fielder David Kale (Fordham) each recorded two hits and two RBI. Kale also crossed the plate two times himself.

After Winnipesaukee starter Joseph Quintal (Fordham) opened his outing with a 1-2-3 inning, the Navs opened the scoring with two runs in the bottom of the second inning and never looked back on the way to the team’s most lopsided victory this year.

In the second, Kale drew a two-out walk and became the home team’s first baserunner of the game, stole second and scored after Haas lined a base hit into right. Christofori doubled the lead on a two-bagger into the left-center gap in the next at-bat.

The offense continued in the third inning as North Shore sent all nine men to the plate and scored four runs on three hits. Shortstop Alex Lemery (Marymount) was hit by a pitch to lead off the frame and advanced into scoring position when second baseman Jonathan Luders (Seton Hall) reached on a fielder’s choice. 

After center fielder Joe Lomuscio (Stanford) dropped down a bunt single and designated hitter Ryan Marra’s (Brown) bases-loaded walk forced home a run, Kale’s two-run single through the right side and another Haas knock quickly cleared the bases and made it a 6-0 game.

The Navs put up another four-run spot in their next trip to the plate to extend the night’s run count to double digits. After first baseman Logan Bravo (Harvard) scored Luders on a one-out double and subsequent error, Lomuscio added a sacrifice fly on which Winnipesaukee shortstop Will Vergantino (Elon) made a diving catch in the hole. From there, Haas and Christofori drove home runners with back-to-back singles during a stretch of six consecutive hits. 

The scoring concluded with a single run in the eighth inning as left fielder Hunter Baldwin (Harvard) walked in his second plate appearance off the bench and came around to score on a two-out single to right by Haas. 

North Shore’s outstanding pitching continued after Marshall was relieved. Left-hander Zach Chappell (North Florida) allowed just one hit and struck out four over two scoreless innings before closer Justin Butera (Merrimack) pitched a 1-2-3 ninth. Chappell allowed a leadoff single in the eighth before striking out the side.

Second baseman Drew Metzdorf (Plymouth State) and right fielder Matthew Overton (Molloy) had the only hits for the visitors. Quintal suffered the loss after allowing 10 runs on eight hits across the first 3.2 frames.

The Navs are scheduled to return to action at 6:30 p.m. Thursday against the Keene Swamp Bats at Alumni Field.