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Newport Takes Two vs. Navs Monday

07/15/2024 8:05 PM

NEWPORT, R.I. 一 The Newport Gulls earned 11-7 and 9-1 victories over the North Shore Navigators to sweep a doubleheader of New England Collegiate Baseball League action on Monday evening at Cardines Field.

Outfielders Kyle Jones (Florida), Ryan Gerety (Northeastern) and Brady Dever (Brown) recorded hits in each game for North Shore. Third baseman and former St. John’s Prep standout Pat D’Amico (Seton Hall) opened the day with a 3-for-5 performance that led the team’s 14-hit game one attack.

The Navs’ five-game road trip continues on Tuesday when they visit the Martha’s Vineyard Sharks for another divisional contest. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. from Oak Bluffs.

Game 1: Newport 11, North Shore 7

A six-run fifth inning was the difference for Newport in an opening game that began on June 21 before it was suspended in the bottom of the second due to rain and field conditions. However, North Shore piled up a season-high 14 hits and had five players post multiple after being held to just seven over its past two games combined. 

D’Amico led the way by going 3-for-5 with an RBI single and a run scored. Left fielder Danny MacDougall (Endicott), catcher Matt Chatelle (Rutgers) and shortstop Reece Moroney (Rhode Island) were also repeat hitters for the Navs. Moroney scored twice as part of a 2-for-2 effort with three walks.

At the point of suspension last month, the Navs led 1-0 in the midst of the bottom of the second inning. MacDougall beat out a one-out infield single and scored on D’Amico’s base hit three batters later in the first inning to put the Navs in front.

After the resumption, Kyle Jones doubled the visitors’ lead on a two-out, bases-loaded walk in the fourth. Newport then halved that score on catcher Jake Burley’s (Wake Forest) RBI single during the latter half of the frame. 

The fifth inning saw a balk bring home designated hitter Jesse Jaconski (Penn State) to expand the Navs’ lead to 3-1, but Newport came back to the bats and turned the game with six runs on four hits and two errors. Right fielder Tyler Hare’s (Wofford) solo homer sparked the go-ahead rally for the Gulls, who led 7-4 at the inning’s conclusion.

The Joneses helped North Shore climb right back into the game in the seventh. D’Amico and Gerety got the offense going on the strength of consecutive one-out hits before a walk to Moroney loaded the bases. Second baseman Brendan Jones (Holy Cross) ripped the first run-scoring single into center two batters before Kyle followed with another that plated two.

Newport finalized the victory with three runs over its final two at-bats, while Dever knocked a one-out RBI single in the ninth that drove home Moroney in North Shore’s ninth. 

Josh Lajoie (Lipscomb) dealt five strikeouts in a 4.2-inning start that spanned over both days of game play, stranding four Newport baserunners over the first two innings. 

Swampscott native Nick Reiser (Bridgewater State) made his first appearance since July 4, striking out three across 1.2 innings of one-hit relief. Tommy Sullivan (Franklin Pierce) made his North Shore debut in the final frame. 

Game 2: Newport 9, North Shore 1

Right-hander Aidan Coleman (Pitt) pitched a seven-inning complete game for Newport, scattering seven hits and one walk while striking out seven. The Navs broke the shutout in the seventh and final inning as third baseman Tim McGuire (Sacred Heart) hit a two-out, bases-loaded infield single that scored first baseman Sonny Rao (Northwestern).

Newport opened the scoring in a two-run first inning and never looked back, adding on with three runs in the third, one in the fourth and three more in the sixth. 

Designated hitter Dixon Williams (East Carolina) hit a two-run single in the third to pad the Gulls’ lead. The final blow was a three-run home run by right fielder Nolan Stevens (Mississippi State) in the sixth. 

Gloucester native Zach Morris (Rhode Island) made his first start of the summer for the Navs, striking out a pair while being charged with three earned runs in three innings. Jack Volo (Georgetown) covered the next two frames, while Cole Mascott (Northwestern) struck out a pair during his final inning of work. 

North Shore strung together four of its six hits in the seventh, beginning with a one-out knock by Rao. Dever and catcher Ryan MacDougall (Dayton) hit a two-out pair consecutively before McGuire’s RBI.