Navs give kudos to Little Leaguers

LYNN – You know you?re not at Fenway when the guys in the bullpen come out between innings, set up as bowling pins and allow themselves to get knocked down by a seven-year-old using a tire as a bowling ball.Welcome to the North Shore Navigators and the Futures Collegiate Baseball League.?That?s what great about it (this level of ball). With professional baseball players, that?s never going to happen,” Navigators General Manager Bill Terlecky said. “The players here are having as much fun as the fans. If we?re not having fun, how can we expect the fans to have fun?”The Navigators played their final home game Wednesday night at Fraser Field and Terlecky, with a dash of showmanship, got the evening started by attending to some end-of-the-season business like introducing all his interns and staff.The team also gave a big shout-out to the Little League players in the city, baseball and softball, who just wrapped up their respective City Series. They were all invited down on the field to join in the pre-game festivities, which also included the announcement of the Navigators Player of the Year. The honor went to pitcher Rob DiFranco, a junior from Melrose who plays for the Bates College baseball team.The Navigators still have at least two games remaining (a makeup of a rainout with Pittsfield might be added to the schedule if either team needs it for playoff purposes), but this was it for Fraser Field.?It?s been tremendous,” Terlecky said about the season. “We kind of set a goal of accomplishing certain things by the end of the third season here and we did it.”Terlecky said the team is profitable and overall it?s been a “really neat year.”?Attendance has grown, not by leaps and bounds, but a little each season,” Terlecky said. “The corporate community has been great with sponsorships. As one year ends, we?re really anxious for next year. We want to continue to grow and continue to do what we do here, like dollar hot dogs and kids running across the field one inning.”Terlecky said the feedback he?s gotten from people at the ballpark and out in the community has been great.?People realize it?s a really good brand of baseball,” he said. “We?re ecstatic and sad to see it end.”Terlecky said the players loved the new turf that was installed just prior to the start of the high school baseball season.?It just really made the entire ballpark look like a million dollars,” he said. “That bright green made the place look that much better. The other stuff was getting tired and old. This is new and shiny and who doesn?t want new and shiny?”The other addition to the facility was a mural painted on the wall along the left field line. The people from RawArts were still working on it as the game was going on.?We?ll continue to work with the city and Fisher College on the facility, making it a nice, clean place for people to come,” Terlecky said.