Leikus Drives In Four, Navs Slug Past SteepleCats Saturday

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The North Shore Navigators broke out of their five-game losing streak in a big way, scoring in five of the first six innings and banging out a season-best 11 hits on the way to a 13-4 win over the visiting North Adams SteepleCats in Saturday night's New England Collegiate Baseball League game at Joe Wolfe Field.

First baseman Daniel Leikus (Rhode Island) went 3-for-5 with two doubles, a triple, four RBI and three runs scored to lead North Shore (2-6) as it posted its greatest scoring output since an 18-5 outburst at Martha's Vineyard on July 16, 2024. Six of the Navs' 11 hits went for extra bases. 

Catcher Jay Slater (Northwestern) highlighted his Navs debut with a towering solo home run, while left fielder Grant Hunter's (Binghamton) hot start to the season continued with a 3-for-4 showing, logging a double, two RBI and another run scored. Hunter has recorded multiple hits in three of his first seven games this summer. 

Lynn native and St. Mary's graduate Josh Doney (UMass Lowell) pitched 1.1 innings of shutout ball with one strikeout in relief of starter John Hegarty (Cornell) to snag his second victory of the summer. Hegarty fanned three over the first 2.2 frames.

North Shore wasted little time opening the scoring in the first. After shortstop Michael Brown (Hofstra) was hit by a pitch and center fielder Hunter Kingsbury (Bryant) knocked a single up the middle, Hunter scored them both on a two-out, two-run double down the right-field line. Two innings later, Slater crushed a solo shot to deep left-center field to extend the Navs' lead to 3-0.

The hosts got on the scoreboard on right fielder Tony Woodie's (SUNY Cobleskill) two-out double to left in the last of the third, but Doney entered in relief and induced a fly ball to escape a two-on, two-out jam and keep the Navs in the lead.

The Navs seized control with 10 unanswered runs between the fourth and sixth innings, including a five-run fifth in which 11 men stepped up to the plate.

In the fourth, right fielder Jack Rickheim (Harvard) drew a leadoff walk and scored from first on a Leikus double into the left-center gap. Leikus reached third on a wild pitch and completed a double steal with second baseman Tyler Shulman (Harvard) to plate another run. A throwing error moved Shulman to third, and a wild pitch with Slater batting scored him for a 6-2 lead.

The North Shore fifth began with a Hunter single through the left side before a wild pitch moved him into scoring position. After Rickheim walked and third baseman Luke Johnson (Cornell) beat out an infield single to load the bases, Leikus dropped a bases-clearing double just inside the right-field line to make it a 9-2 game. 

After a grounder pushed Shulman to third and Brown walked, another first-and-third double steal delivered the 10th Navs run. Then, with two outs, Slater drew his own free pass before stolen bases brought both runners into scoring position and another wild pitch allowed Brown to cross the plate.

In the sixth, Leikus crushed a one-out triple to deep right and scored as Shulman reached on a fielding error. Shulman then advanced two bases on a wild pitch before scoring on a dropped fly ball off Brown's bat.

North Adams concluded the scoring with Sean Stephenson's (Iona) pinch-hit home run and center fielder Chris Diaz's (Marist) run-scoring double in the sixth and seventh, respectively.

Following Doney's outing, Groveland's Ethan Hunt (New Orleans) worked two innings of one-run ball and left-hander Justin Fryer (Northwestern) made his North Shore debut in the seventh. Jack Sarno (Northern Essex CC) and Cameron Keaveney (Northeastern) concluded the night with back-to-back scoreless and hitless innings. Keaveney punctuated the win with a pair of strikeouts in the ninth.

The Navs take their first South Division road trip of the summer on Monday when they take on the Newport Gulls at Cardines Field. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m.