Key Hits Headline Past Week for Navs

Below is the seventh Navs College Baseball Report of the 2026 season. Weekly installments will be posted by Tuesday throughout the spring.

LYNN, Mass. — With the two-month mark before the start of the 2026 New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) season approaching, here are the latest college baseball highlights for incoming North Shore Navigators players:

Returning Navigators shortstop Jack Rickheim was a one-man wrecking crew in Harvard's three-game Ivy League series at Cornell over the weekend. He went yard three times, homering twice as part of a 4-for-6 Monday performance. Rickheim reached base in each game and totaled seven hits against the Big Red. The junior also scored eight runs, drove in seven more and added three doubles, moving his team-leading average to .286. Tyler Shulman earned a hit in back-to-back games to close the series, including an RBI double on Monday.

On the other side of the matchup, Cornell middle infielder Luke Johnson made a ton of noise on a Big Red win in game two of Sunday's doubleheader. He ripped a two-run homer in the seventh inning to highlight a three-RBI day, and stole three bases in the game as well. 

Consistency was key for Hofstra shortstop Michael Brown this week. He had multiple hits in the four-game span with two doubles and two singles while never striking out once. The Pride relied on the junior for an RBI in each game, totaling eight across the week with the highlight on an 11th-inning walk-off single on Friday against CAA foe Northeastern. He also scored six runs, with three coming on Saturday. The leadoff-hitting Brown's .361 batting average is still the best among Hofstra regulars.

Strong performances from a future Navigator at Hofstra didn't stop with Brown. Pitcher Brayden Gregg entered in relief Friday and recorded the game's final seven outs, earning his second win of the season. He didn't allow a hit in the latter third of the game and got out of a pair of bases-loaded jams to set the stage for Brown's heroics.

Simmi Whitehill helped Monmouth maintain its place atop the CAA North Division standings with a 7-for-16 week, helping the Hawks to a series sweep of Elon with multiple hits in three consecutive games. The North Shore returnee had a two-run double in a 9-7 win on Saturday.

Outfielder Hunter Kingsbury continues to be a difference-maker all over the diamond for Bryant. The Byfield native and Governor's Academy product is riding a nine-game on-base streak after finishing the week 5-for-14 with eight RBI, five runs scored and four stolen bases. Kingsbury blasted his second home run of the season on Tuesday against Rhode Island before helping the Bulldogs to an America East series win over NJIT with seven RBI, and just for good measure, he collected his first career outfield assist. 

Staying in the outfield, High Point's Lane Allen enjoyed another productive week as the Panthers swept their second straight Big South series and have won eight in a row. He added five hits to his season total, two of which were a double and his fifth home run of the season in Sunday's 15-4 win over Gardner-Webb. Allen was 5-for-10 across the final two games of the weekend series and is now up to a remarkable 15 extra-base hits in 27 games this season.

Grant Hunter put the Binghamton Bearcats on his back this past week, going 5-for-8 with two home runs, two doubles, six RBI, six runs scored and a pair of walks. He went deep twice during Tuesday's win over Le Moyne and then drove in two against Fairfield on Saturday. Hunter is now up to six round-trippers on the season, and is sporting a notable .884 OPS.

Bowling Green's Pauly Mancino made the most of his lone outing against Findlay on Wednesday. The junior singled, drove in a run, scored and walked. It marked the fourth straight game Mancino recorded at least one RBI. Seton Hall catcher Aidan Sengenberger also posted a strong midweek game last week, going 2-for-3 with an RBI to help the Pirates beat Princeton.

Back on the mound, Thomas Mahoney closed out Northeastern's Wednesday win at UMass Lowell with a 1-2-3 inning, while Lynn native Josh Doney pitched a scoreless frame of his own on the opposing side. Doney worked 1.2 innings last week for the River Hawks and has now pitched scoreless ball in four of his last five outings.

Robert Brown III worked a combined 3.1 innings across three relief appearances for Penn State over the past week. The North Andover native earned his first career win last Tuesday against St. Bonaventure, working 2.1 hitless and scoreless frames with three strikeouts. 

Revere's own Jack Zimmerman posted another scoreless outing out of the Dayton bullpen in a Friday win over Atlantic 10 rival Davidson. Doney's St. Mary's classmate has allowed only three hits over 6.1 innings this season, which is good for an opponent batting average of .150. Fellow southpaw John Delgado continued to showcase his swing-and-miss stuff for the Flyers, racking up six strikeouts over 5.1 innings against Miami (Ohio) and Davidson.  

It was a productive week for both of North Shore's Division 3 products, with returning pitcher John Milewski striking out eight in five innings of two-run ball to post his first Brandeis win on Sunday at Case Western Reserve. Infielder Conor Moriarty helped his Bowdoin squad win a crucial NESCAC series against Tufts, recording three hits and scoring a run. Batting out of the leadoff spot, he was 2-for-5 in the Polar Bears' 12-5 Sunday triumph.

The Navigators will return to historic Fraser Field and the NECBL for their 19th summer season in 2026, with first pitch set for Friday, June 5. Stay up to date on the latest Navs news by visiting nsnavs.com and following the team on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram.