Virtuoso pitching performance dooms Navigators

LYNN – You can’t win a baseball game if you can’t get anyone on base, and the North Shore Navigators learned that lesson the hard way last night. Pittsfield’s Mike Ness tossed 6 1/3 innings of no-hit ball, and the Navs went down to defeat at Fraser Field, 4-1.”I was telling their coach after the game that that was probably the best performance against us all year,” said Navigators skipper Jason Falcon. “We couldn’t get anything going at all.”The Navs (17-10) entered the game in third place in the Northern Division, one game behind leader Sanford and a half-game behind second-place Keene. The team was looking to make a strong showing against Pittsfield, the top team in the South (16-11).The Dukes notched back-to-back one-out singles off North Shore righty Mike DiCato, but were left stranded. By contrast, the Navs went down in order into the third against Ness, with third baseman Kyle Geason becoming their first baserunner, courtesy of being hit by a pitch. He would soon be erased on a fielder’s choice.Pittsfield took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third. Left fielder Chris Edmondson reached when centerfielder Justin Little couldn’t come up with his fly ball, and the ball bounded off his glove. Designated hitter Jason Krizan lashed a broken-bat single to center to score Edmondson. Teammate Matt Adams followed with a double into the left-field corner, and a perfect relay from left fielder Sean McNaughton to shortstop Chad Zurcher to catcher John Hill got Krizan at the plate to end the inning.The Dukes increased their lead in the sixth. Edmondson led off with a single past the outstretched dive of second baseman Tyler Kuehl. He advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt, and a walk to Adams followed. Edmondson moved to third on a deep fly to center, and DiCato walked shortstop John Rosenbeck to load the bases. Right fielder Dominic DiRicco immediately singled to center, bringing in Edmondson and Adams for a 3-0 Dukes edge.Geason walked to lead off the sixth, yet was thrown out attempting to steal second by catcher J.T. Musso.The North Shore deficit grew to 4-0 in the seventh, when Musso was issued a one-out walk by reliever Brian Krull, and Krizon added a double to left, plating Musso.North Shore bunched all of its hits together in the seventh. Ness fanned outfielder Mike Provencher to begin the frame, but McNaughton lashed the first pitch he saw off the wall in left-center for a triple. Ness got DH Nick Belcher swinging, but Kuehl lined an infield single off the right foot of Ness, with the ball bounding towards third. Hill followed with a single, and first baseman Kent Graham was hit by a pitch to load the bases, but pinch hitter Joshua Garton flied to center, putting an end to the threat.McNaughton walked to lead off the ninth, and advanced to second on a passed ball, but was left at the bag to end the contest.”We can’t be concerned with how we did against Pittsfield (as the Southern Division), as we’re more concerned with how we do in our own division,” said Falcon. “We’re still fighting for a playoff spot, and it could take 6-8 wins to determine one.”