Navs Fall to Blues, Split Season Series

By Jason Glick

LYNN, Mass. — Six days ago at Muzzy Field in Bristol, Conn., the North Shore Navigators handled the Bristol Blues 8-2 in their first meeting of the season. 

The Navigators (17-18) couldn't complete the sweep over the Blues (17-18), falling 14-2 in Saturday's New England Collegiate Baseball League action at Fraser Field. The Navs trailed only 3-1 through four innings, but Bristol put the game out of reach with a multi-run seventh inning.

Right fielder Grant Hunter (Binghamton) scored both North Shore runs, with one on his solo home run in the third inning and the other on first baseman Simmi Whitehill's (Monmouth) RBI single in the fifth. The pair each hit a team-best 2-for-4. Right-hander Brock Bullinger (Central Alabama CC) shined in relief, striking out five through 2.2 innings.

Bristol third baseman Nick Flores (Virginia Commonwealth) opened the scoring in the first inning. During the second, shortstop Evan Menzel's (UConn) single to right scored catcher Cal Chance (UMass Lowell). With bases loaded, left fielder Sean Britt (St. John's) scored, putting the Blues up 3-0. Navs left-handed starter Bobby Finn (Villanova) retired the side with his second swinging strikeout of the inning.

North Shore had its best inning yet in the third, taking out Bristol through four batters. Bullinger retired the side with his second strikeout. On the flip side, Hunter mashed a ball over the left-field fence for his team-best fourth home run of the summer, cutting the deficit to 3-1. Shortstop Hudson Ellis (Oral Roberts) singled up the middle a couple of at-bats later.

The Navigators struck out two in three straight innings, with Bullinger doing the honors during the fourth. Offensively, Byfield native center fielder Hunter Kingsbury (Bryant) walked, stole second and reached third on catcher Daniel Leikus' (Rhode Island) single to right.

The Blues recovered their three-run lead in the top of the fifth, as Chance's double to left scored right fielder Christopher DiPrima (Yale). Bristol then went up 5-1, as Menzel scored Chance on a single. 

Hunter continued his scorching-hot day with a double and reached third off a wild pitch. He scored his second run, as first baseman Simmi Whitehill (Monmouth) singled to left, making it 5-2.

Although the Navs recorded a double play during first baseman Nicholas Francuzenko's (Towson) at-bat at the top of the sixth, he drove in a run as Flores scored again. On the backend, second baseman Tyler Shulman (Harvard) laced the ball toward the right-center field fence for a triple. Second baseman Jack Rickheim (Harvard) was hit by a pitch and stole second, giving North Shore two runners in scoring position.

The Blues upped their lead to five in the seventh, as pinch runner Colin Crowley (Winthrop) scored. DiPrima then ripped a three-run double before scoring on Francuzenko's single. Francuzenko and designated hitter Thomas Zwirecki (Rutgers) crossed home thanks to Chance, who scored on Crowley's single to make it 14-2.

During the bottom half, the Navs had a couple baserunners, as Whitehill singled and left fielder Luke Miele (Roger Williams) walked. North Shore had no issues cleansing Bristol through four batters in the eighth and ninth, as Newbury native right-hander Jack Sarno (Northern Essex CC) tossed two strikeouts.

Leikus and Kingsbury walked in the bottom of the eighth, and Kingsbury stole two bases, but North Shore couldn't get itself back in the game.

The Navs return to action Sunday at Goodall Park in Sanford, Maine, against the Sanford Mainers. First pitch is at 4:30 p.m.