The North Shore Navigators got back on the winning track in convincing fashion Sunday night at Holman Stadium in Nashua, N.H., shutting out the Silver Knights, 8-0, in the back end of this weekend’s Futures Collegiate Baseball League home-and-home series.
Nashua defeated the Navigators, 3-2, Saturday at Fraser Field
The Navs recorded 10 hits in a game for the fourth time.
Right fielder JP Knight (Tufts), catcher John Prentice (New England College), second baseman Joey Murphy (Saint Joseph’s of Maine), and center fielder George Sutherland (Cochise) had two hits apiece to lead the offensive attack. Murphy scored twice, while he, Prentice, and shortstop Andrew Olszak (Southern Maine) each recorded two RBI.
On the flip side, the pitching trio of Ethan Dyer (Holy Cross), Dylan Gaita (Plymouth State), and Corey Imbriano (Dayton) evenly split the nine-inning affair, allowing just four combined hits. Gaita pitched the middle third of the game to earn the win, while Imbriano was credited with a three-inning save after pitching scoreless ball with four strikeouts.
North Shore recorded all its offense in just two innings, batting around in a four-run fourth before doubling the lead in the eighth.
In the fourth, the first seven Navs to step to the plate came around to score. After a walk, a hit batter, and a single from Knight, Prentice drove a double over the head of Nashua right fielder Andrew Gorham (Tulane) for his first two RBI of the summer. Murphy dropped a single into shallow right to add to the lead before Olszak’s first of two RBI groundouts in the game finished the four-run frame.
The Navs nearly repeated their fourth-inning effort in the eighth, sending eight batters to the plate to score four runs. Knight led off the frame with the first of three North Shore hits and scored on Murphy’s knock. Sutherland scored on a wild pitch, Olszak’s groundout brought in Murphy three batters later, and third baseman Elias Varinos (Tufts) singled to center field to conclude the scoring.
Nashua recorded two of its four hits in the sixth inning, but one of the Navs’ three double plays turned preserved the eventual shutout. Only one runner reached third base for the hosts.
The Navs are back in action Tuesday at Pittsfield and Wednesday in Brockton before returning to Fraser Thursday doubleheader against the Rox that begins at 4:30 p.m.
Saturday, the Navigators the Silver Knights score all three of their runs in the fifth inning.
The Navigators managed five hits and left just two runners on base against Nashua starter Luke Dawson (Bentley) and a trio of relievers. Second baseman Joey Murphy (Saint Joseph’s of Maine) recorded North Shore’s lone RBI, while catcher Harrison Engstrom (Cochise) scored on a 1-for-2 night that extended his hitting streak to five games.
North Shore starter Danny Ryan (Northeastern) allowed just two hits over the first four innings, but a pair of wild pitches with one out in the fifth brought home the only runs Nashua ultimately needed. Leadoff-hitting third baseman Tom Blandini (SNHU) added insurance to the Silver Knight lead with a sacrifice fly to center field.
The hosts made the ballgame interesting in the seventh when third baseman Elias Varinos (Tufts) led off the seventh with a walk before Engstrom lined a single to left two batters later. Right fielder Knight hit a hard single to third that loaded the bases, and Varinos trotted home on Murphy’s sacrifice fly to center. Engstrom then came home on the back end of a double steal with center fielder Drew Robertson (LIU Post) batting, but Knight’s potential tying run was eliminated after a lengthy rundown.