PITTSFIELD, Mass. 一 A beautiful early summer’s night at historic Wahconah Park was the setting for the North Shore Navigators’ 4-2 win over the North Adams SteepleCats in New England Collegiate Baseball League action on Friday. 

And, a little bit of franchise history.

Catcher Matt Chatelle (Merrimack) went 3-for-4 with three doubles, matching a single-game franchise record for only the second time in the NECBL era. The Stoneham native led North Shore’s 10-hit effort 一 six of which went for extra bases, all doubles 一 and contributed to two of the team’s three run-scoring innings.

Shortstop Reece Moroney (Rhode Island) and center fielder Ryan Gerety (Northeastern) each went 2-for-5, scoring a run and driving in another. Moroney has now posted consecutive multi-hit games.

The Navs starting rotation also continued to do its job, as Truman Pauley (Harvard) struck out eight across four innings of one-hit ball. Pauley became the second Navs starter in three games to reach that strikeout total, matching Brett Dunham’s (Northeastern) effort from Tuesday’s season-opening win over Valley.

Thanks to winning its first game at the 132-year-old ballpark since 2019, North Shore moved to at least 2-1 for the third time in four summers.

After Pauley struck out five batters over the first two innings, the Navs offense drew first blood with two runs in the third that stood up for the duration of the evening. 

In the first run-scoring frame, right fielder Alex Luccini (UMass Lowell) drew a leadoff walk and stole second before the first of back-to-back doubles by Gerety brought home the opening run. Moroney followed with his own two-bagger to right, doubling the visitors’ lead to 2-0.

Pauley faced the minimum during the first run through the North Adams batting order and stranded two in the fourth to finish his night. 

Designated hitter David McCann (Virginia Tech) broke the shutout by ripping a solo home run to right one out into the fifth, but North Shore reliever Jack Volo (Georgetown) maintained the lead without allowing any further damage in the inning.

North Shore got the insurance run right back in the sixth as second baseman Brendan Jones (Holy Cross) dropped an RBI single into shallow left that scored third baseman Pat D’Amico (Seton Hall), who ripped a two-out double to right and took third on a passed ball.

An inning later, two-out magic helped the Navs plate their fourth and final run. Moroney’s two-out single set the table for Chatelle’s third double of the game, which dropped deep into the right-center gap.

North Adams made it a 4-2 game when McCann scored first baseman Luke Mistone (Cal State Fullerton) on a sacrifice fly in its half of the seventh, but the visitors’ last two relievers put up zeros to preserve the win. Ryan Griffin (Northeastern) and Peabody native Joe Castrichini (Stonehill) each worked around baserunners in the eighth and ninth, respectively.

Castrichini worked the entire ninth with a runner aboard following a leadoff throwing error, inducing two grounders and a strikeout to end the game and post North Shore’s first save of the young summer. The win went to Josh Lajoie (Lipscomb), who allowed one unearned run and struck out three between the sixth and seventh innings. 

The Navs will make a brief return home to Fraser Field on Saturday night before heading out for two more road games, hosting the Bristol Blues for a 5:05 p.m. first pitch.