Mountaineers Clip Navs Friday in Montpelier

MONTPELIER, Vt. — The North Shore Navigators were on the short end of another one-run game on Friday night, falling 4-3 to the Vermont Mountaineers in New England Collegiate Baseball League action at Montpelier Recreation Field.

North Shore (17-17) held a 3-1 lead after 3.5 innings, but dropped its third straight as Vermont scored twice in both the fourth and sixth to come away with the victory. 

Revere native and former St. Mary's left-hander Jack Zimmerman (Dayton) allowed two unearned runs on just one hit and struck out six across the first four innings. The Navs allowed just three total hits in the game, as fellow southpaw Justin Fryer (Northwestern) fanned a pair over the final two frames.

Center fielder Hunter Kingsbury (Bryant) hit a run-scoring double and also crossed the plate himself. The Byfield native now leads North Shore with 18 RBI on the season.

Zimmerman worked around early traffic to set the stage for the Navs' opening runs, picking off a runner en route to a scoreless first inning before a pair of strikeouts helped him erase three walks to get through the second.

After being limited to only a two-out single by designated hitter Daniel Leikus (Rhode Island) through the first two innings, the Navs finally got to Vermont starter Evan Hoeckele (St. John's) for a 2-0 lead in the third. 

The run-producing frame began with left fielder Jack Rickheim (Harvard) drawing a one-out walk and stealing second before Kingsbury ripped an RBI double over the head of Vermont's Chase Ecker (West Virginia) in deep left field. Catcher Aidan Sengenberger (Seton Hall) then drew a walk, and first baseman Anderson French (Dallas Baptist) reached on an errant throw, allowing another run to score.

Two-out magic helped North Shore extend its lead in the third. Right fielder Grant Hunter (Binghamton) roped a double into left, and Rickheim made it back-to-back hits with a single through the left side. The duo then combined on a double steal, with Rickheim motoring into second base just ahead of a tag and Hunter crossing the plate. 

In a matchup of the top two base-stealing teams in the NECBL, the Mountaineers struck back without the benefit of a hit in their half of the fourth, and Zimmerman struck out his sixth and final batter of the game to hold the score at 3-2.

After a two-out walk and a hit batter, shortstop Charlie Niehaus (Cincinnati) swiped third as part of another double steal and scored on an error. Third baseman Sam Winsett (Middle Tennessee State) came home on a wild pitch to trim the Vermont deficit to one run.

While the hosts used a two-run sixth to move into a 4-3 lead, it could have been more than a one-run game if catcher Sebastian Collender's (Middle Georgia State) sacrifice had not turned into a fly-ball double play. 

After Sengenberger just missed applying a tag on designated hitter Bryce Rudisill (Mount St. Mary's) sliding into home plate, Niehaus was gunned down trying to advance from second to third following his bunt base hit. In the very next at-bat, second baseman Elliot Miles (Bryant) gave the Mountaineers their first lead, beating out an infield single to the left side.

Vermont's bullpen trio of Jackson Hulcher (Delaware), Max Weber (Felician) and Davis Budd (Western Carolina) shut down the North Shore offense for the final 5.1 innings. Sengenberger was the Navs' only baserunner over that span, drawing a leadoff free pass in the eighth.

The Navs return home to Fraser Field to conclude their season series with the Bristol Blues on Saturday. First pitch is set for 5:05 p.m.