Navigators shine in FCBL All-Star Game

LYNN – Richie Fecteau?s game-winning hit in the ninth inning delivered the 4-3 win for the East squad Tuesday night at Fraser Field in the Futures Collegiate Baseball League All-Star Game. It was a back-and-forth game all night, but with two outs in the ninth inning, Brian Campbell, of the Martha?s Vineyard Sharks, scored on a single to right by Fecteau, who plays for the North Shore Navigators and Salem State.
Fecteau earned the All-Star Game MVP honors for his dramatic walk-off hit. Speros Varinos, of the Navigators and Tufts University, earned the top pitching honors for his 1-2-3 inning in the fourth.
The hometown Navigators had six representatives in the All-Star Game, with third baseman M.J. Brown, of Lee University, shortstop Brandon Fischer (St. Thomas Aquinas), pitcher Steve Xirinachs (UMass Lowell) and Swampscott native and pitcher Trevor Massey (Boston College), as well as Fecteau and Varinos.
Also an All-Star, getting the start in the outfield for the West All-Stars was Nahant native Kurtis White, a senior at Franklin Pierce and outfielder for the Wachusett Dirt Dawgs.
The West team got out to a fast start, as Wachusett?s Jon Kristoffersen (St. Peter?s) singled and went all the way to third on a two-base error. He scored the game?s first run on a wild pitch.
The East got the run back in the bottom of the frame. The Seacoast Mavericks? Ryan Gendron (Southern New Hampshire University) singled and was driven in on a double by Brockton Rox outfielder Tom Marcinczyk (Rutgers).
A double from the Pittsfield Suns? Casey McCone (University of Bridgeport) and an RBI single from the Torrington Titans? Cody Doyle (Sacred Heart) against Xirinachs put the West up by a run. East?s Manny Cruz (SNHU, Nashua Silver Knights) singled in the third, stole third and came home on a wild pitch to tie the game.
The Navigators? Fischer manufactured the go-ahead run for the East in the fifth, reaching on a walk, stealing third and coming home on a groundout. That lead was short-lived, however, as the Bristol Blues? Davis Strong (St. Mary?s) smacked a home run in the sixth to knot the score, 3-3.
Brown went 1-for-2 with a double to left for the East and White went 1-for-2 with a single and stolen base for the West. Varinos tossed a spotless fourth, striking out one. Massey didn?t allow a baserunner in his two-thirds of an inning for the East.
A home run derby featuring four players was held prior to the game and was won by the Navigators? Giovanni Dingcong (St. Thomas Aquinas), who hit nine home runs in the first round and narrowly beat Worcester Bravehearts? Zack Tower with five homers in the final round. The Pine Hill Little League team got a chance to line the outfield and track down the balls that didn?t make it out of the park in the contest.Katie Morrison can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter at @KatieMo61.