LYNN, Mass. -- The North Shore Navigators’ influx of local players for the 2023 New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) season will include three pitchers from the Division 3 ranks, all of whom call Massachusetts home.

Beverly’s own Brayden Clark will join the Navigators following his junior campaign at Salve Regina University, where he has helped the Seahawks earn back-to-back NCAA tournament berths. Clark racked up 22 strikeouts in his first 17 innings of work this spring after going 6-2 with a 2.83 ERA and fanning 63 batters over 60.1 frames in 2022. The All-Commonwealth Coast Conference third-team honoree went on to start five games for the Futures League’s Nashua Silver Knights over the summer. Clark was a three-sport athlete in golf, hockey and baseball at Beverly High and played for the Beverly/Salem team that advanced to the 2021 American Legion World Series.

A St. John’s Prep graduate who hails from Westford, Alex Erickson has signed on to spend his first summer ball experience with North Shore. The Union College sophomore made five relief appearances during his first collegiate season, recording nine strikeouts in just five innings of work. Erickson and the Dutchmen are slated to begin the 2023 season on March 19. Erickson, who will become the first-ever product of the New York school to join the Navs, played four years of baseball at St. John’s and was also a member of the Eagles’ cross country and indoor track and field teams.

UMass Boston’s Ross Dexter rounds out the newest trio of Navs. After emerging as a key reliever with a 3.05 ERA in 19 games during his freshman year, Dexter has slotted right into the starting rotation for the Beacons this spring. The 6-foot-3 right-hander has averaged well over a strikeout per inning for his career at UMass, logging 41 through 30.2 frames including 12 so far in 2023. Dexter spent the majority of last summer with the Futures League’s Pittsfield Suns, going 4-1 with a 2.93 ERA and 31 strikeouts in 27.2 innings before earning a call to the Cape Cod League with the Wareham Gatemen. He played baseball and hockey at both his hometown Milton High School and The Winchendon School.

The Navs kick off their 16th summer of collegiate baseball on Wednesday, June 7 and will host their home opener at a renovated Fraser Field on Friday, June 9. The 2023 season includes 22 home games, as well as the return of the NECBL All-Star Game to Lynn on Sunday, July 23.

Stay up to date on the latest Navs news by visiting nsnavs.com and following the team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Single-game and season tickets are now available for purchase online.