LYNN, Mass. (July 19, 2025) 一 Four runs over the first two innings lifted the visiting Keene SwampBats to a 5-3 win over the North Shore Navigators in Saturday’s New England Collegiate Baseball League game at Fraser Field.
The Navs fell to 14-20 following their second consecutive loss, while North Division-leading Keene used its fourth win in a row to improve to 26-11.
Third baseman Davis Baker (Penn) and second baseman Conor Moriarty (Bowdoin) each had a hit and drove in a run to pace North Shore, which totaled eight hits in the game and held the visitors to just one run after the second inning. The relief duo of Swampscott native Pierce Friedman (Maine) and Ryan Griffin (Northeastern) each tossed scoreless frames at the back end of the bullpen.
North Shore played from behind for a second straight night, as third baseman Nick Romano (Florida Atlantic) hit a two-out, three-run home run to right field to give Keene a 3-0 lead in the opening frame. After starter Joseph Hauser (Northeastern) retired the first two batters, a single and a fielding error put two runners aboard ahead of Romano.
The hosts quickly climbed back within a run in the bottom of the first. Center fielder Nater Wachter (UConn) started up the offense with a one-out double and advanced to third on designated hitter Aukai Kea’s (Vanderbilt) infield single, triggering an error that led to the first run. Left fielder Jesse Jaconski (Penn State) kept the line moving with an infield knock of his own before Baker stroked an RBI double into the right-center gap.
Consecutive one-out singles and a walk loaded the bases with one out in Keene’s second, and catcher Zack Thompson (Gardner-Webb) scored on a fielding error to tack on another run. A 4-6-3 double play ball turned by Moriarty and shortstop Jack Rickheim (Harvard) got Hauser out of trouble without any further damage.
Two-out magic helped the Navs trim their deficit again in the fourth. Catcher Aidan Sengenberger (Seton Hall) and Rickheim hit back-to-back singles, setting the table for Moriarty to line a run-scoring base hit to right.
Hauser finished his five-inning start by dealing three straight scoreless frames over which he allowed just one hit. Three of the four runs he allowed were unearned.
Raymond McNaught (Winthrop) followed with a clean frame of his own before left fielder Michael O’Brien (Arkansas-Little Rock) hit an RBI single to extend Keene’s advantage to the eventual 5-3 final score in the seventh.
Friedman and Griffin each worked around baserunners in their innings. Friedman retired the next three batters he faced following a leadoff single before Griffin completed an untraditional 1-2-3 inning with the help of Sengenberger catching a runner stealing second.
Jayden Barroqueiro (Seton Hall) earned the win for Keene after allowing three runs (one earned) on seven hits across the first five innings. Right fielder Jack Herring (East Carolina) went 3-for-5 to lead the SwampBat offense.
Kea, first baseman Alex Marot (Charleston Southern) and relief pitcher Zach Kittrell (Alabama) will represent the Navs in the 2025 NECBL All-Star Game, which will now be played on Monday at Maxfield Sports Complex in White River Junction, Vt. The events were pushed back a day due to the threat of inclement weather throughout the day on Sunday.
As a result of the All-Star Game being postponed, the Navs will return to action on Tuesday when they host the West Division-leading Bristol Blues for a 6:05 p.m. first pitch at Fraser Field. North Shore was scheduled to visit the Danbury Westerners at Rogers Park on Monday evening, but that game has been postponed to a to-be-determined date.