Navigators Handle Westerners For Fourth Straight Win

By Jason Glick

LYNN, Mass. — After a 1-6 start to their season, one play secured the North Shore Navigators a four-game win streak. With no outs and two runners on during the bottom of the seventh inning, up 4-1, first baseman Danati Fronduto mashed a 366-foot bomb over the right-field fence.

The Peabody native Fronduto's (San Jacinto) blast was the dagger in his five-RBI performance during the Navigators' 8-3 victory over the Danbury Westerners (3-7) on Wednesday night at Fraser Field. 

North Shore (5-6) scored in four of the first five innings, and its pitchers held down the fort, as starter Ismael Borrero (Mercer) blanked the Westerners across 3.2 frames and left-hander Jack Zimmerman (Dayton) only surrendered one hit after taking over through the seventh frame.

After retiring Danbury through four batters in the first, the Navs earned back-to-back hit-by-pitch advancements. That allowed catcher Jay Slater (Northwestern) to score center fielder Grayson Carpenter (Dayton) on a sacrifice fly for a 1-0 lead.

North Shore only faced three Westerners in the second, which culminated in a double play. On the flip side, second baseman Conor Moriarty (Bowdoin) and left fielder Danny Flynn (Northeastern) bashed balls into right field for singles. They both stole bases, with Moriarty's being home plate. That resulted in the Westerners pulling starting pitcher Preston Tamm (Manhattan).

Borrero ended the top of the third by striking out shortstop Gavin Donohue (Sacred Heart). After being hit by a pitch for the second straight at-bat, shortstop Hudson Ellis (Oral Roberts) stole second and scored courtesy of Slater's second sacrifice fly RBI.

For the fourth straight inning, the Navigators stymied the Westerners through four batters or fewer. But one trend ended, as the Navs came one base shy of recording a run in each of the first four stanzas after Moriarty tripled to right center.

In his first full frame in the fifth, the Revere native Zimmerman recorded a strikeout. North Shore's offense reverted to its early ways, with Ellis singling and scoring off Fronduto's single to make it 4-0. The Navigators nearly scored a fifth time with Fronduto reaching third.

The sixth marked the third straight frame the Navs held Danbury hitless. Once again, they closed it with a runner on third, which was right fielder Grant Hunter (Binghamton), who singled. 

The Westerners had their best offensive surge in the seventh after a pair of walks and a fielder's choice advanced left fielder Jack Edmunds (Brown) to third for center fielder Aidan Stern (Trinity) to send home to make it a 4-1 ballgame.

After Carpenter singled and Ellis walked, Fronduto blasted his signature homer for a game-sealing 7-1 lead, marking the first home run at Fraser Field this season. The Navs nearly scored again after loading the bases.

Koby Seelig (Columbia) replaced Zimmerman during the eighth and struck out two Westerners. Ellis remained perfect at the plate with a double to left and scored his game-best fourth run on Fronduto's sacrifice fly.

Danbury notched a couple runs in the ninth, as Stern nabbed his second RBI, scoring catcher Jayden Novak (La Salle). First baseman Kyle Garbowski's (Quinnipiac) single sent second baseman Tyler Castrataro (Hofstra) home. But left-hander Jack Korthas (Columbia) sealed the game with a pair of strikeouts.

The Navs close their three-game homestand Thursday at Fraser against the Upper Valley Nighthawks. First pitch is set for 6:05 p.m.