GROTON, Conn. 一 The Mystic Schooners posted a five-run rally in the bottom of the eighth inning to take the lead and eventually top the North Shore Navigators 7-2 In Wednesday’s New England Collegiate Baseball League action at Fitch High School.

North Shore fell to 6-8 following its third straight defeat, while Mystic improved to 8-10 and drew even for third place in the Coastal Division standings.

Right fielder Jesse Jaconski (Penn State) and left fielder Brady Dever (Brown) each went 2-for-4 to lead North Shore’s attack, which held an 8-5 advantage in the hit department. Jaconski, whose .415 average is the best in the NECBL, is on a six-game hitting streak.

First baseman Andrew Bianco (Seton Hall) hit a clutch two-out, two-strike single in the eighth inning, tying the game at 2-2 with the Navs’ lone RBI of the night.

Mystic third baseman Anthony DePIno (Rhode Island) and right fielder Christian Scanlon (Merrimack) opened the second with back-to-back doubles before an error and sacrifice fly equaled the opening 2-0 score.

North Shore starter Zach Gleason (Rutgers) recovered from the run-scoring stanza to deliver a solid five-inning start, allowing just three hits and three walks while striking out three. Shortstop Reece Moroney (Rhode Island) helped his pitcher get through a scoreless final frame, making a backhanded play to his right to take a likely run-scoring hit away from his college teammate DePino.

After Mystic left-hander Matthew Fletcher (Lasell) cruised through five scoreless innings with seven strikeouts, the Navs were able to break the home team’s shutout bid with a sixth-inning run. Jaconski ripped a leadoff double into the left-center gap, took third on third baseman Pat D’Amico’s (Seton Hall) fly ball and scored sliding home on a wild pitch.

With North Shore’s deficit at just 2-1, Swampscott native Pierce Friedman (Stonehill) and Sachem Ramos (Michigan) each tossed scoreless innings and set up Bianco’s game-tying RBI chance in the eighth. D’Amico kept the inning alive with a two-strike hit of his own, legging out a double before Bianco’s knock through the left side brought home pinch runner Alex Luccini (UMass Lowell). 

Mystic’s half of the eighth turned the game for good. Two batters after Peabody’s Joe Castrichini (Stonehill) struck out back-to-back Schooners with one out, a bases-loaded walk forced in the tying run and center fielder Cian Sahler (Fordham) flipped the scoreboard with a go-ahead grand slam to right.

Center fielder Ryan Gerety (Northeastern) roped a one-out double and Moroney walked with two outs in the ninth, but North Shore was unable to further its rally and dropped the decision.

Before a three-game weekend homestand at Fraser Field, the Navs will remain on the road for one more day and visit the Ocean State Waves for a Thursday doubleheader in South Kingstown, R.I. First pitch is set for 4 p.m. at Old Mountain Field