LYNN– Rosters for the Futures Collegiate Baseball League All-Star Game have been announced, and the North Shore Navigators are well represented.
Seven Navigators were chosen to participate in the league’s annual mid-summer showcase, which is scheduled to take place next Tuesday at Wahconah Park in Pittsfield. The Navs had six FCBL All-Star selections in 2012, 2015, 2016, and 2017, but this year’s total sets a new single-year record for the franchise.
Catcher/first baseman Colin Wetterau (St. John’s), infielder Tyler MacGregor (Columbia), and outfielders Sean Lawlor (Flagler) and Ben Malgeri (Holy Cross) will be playing on the Electrics, who are named after the Eastern League team that played in Pittsfield in the 1920s. Pitchers Cam Seguin (UMass Lowell) and Beau Dana (Dickinson) will join infielder Andrew Olszak (Southern Maine) on the Hillies, who are named after Pittsfield’s Eastern Association team from the early 1910s.
In addition, first-year field manager Mike Odenwaelder (Amherst) will serve as a coach in the game.
“It has been a great first half of the season. Although our work is far from done, we are excited to see these players and Coach Odenwaelder recognized for such a great start to the summer,” said Assistant General Manager Joe Gill. “We are excited to see what happens in the second half as we begin to direct our attention to a potential playoff push.”
Dana has already established himself as one of the top relief pitchers in team history, becoming just the second closer to reach the 10-save mark when he finished Sunday’s win at Bristol. The Marbleheader recorded 24 strikeouts and allowed just three earned runs on 10 hits over his first 15 innings. He has compiled a 1.80 ERA and held opponents to a .185 batting average in 14 outings.
Lawlor and Malgeri share seventh in the FCBL with identical .333 averages entering Tuesday’s action. Lawlor has hit in the heart of the order and been the Navs’ top run producer with 24 RBI and a .553 slugging percentage in 30 games, thanks in part to co-leading the team with five home runs. During last Friday’s five-RBI effort at Westfield, he became the first North Shore batter to homer twice in a game this summer.
Malgeri matched Lawlor’s summer-long batting mark through just 21 games, including a 5-for-5 night against the Starfires back on June 9. The Exeter, N.H., native missed more than two weeks of June action due to injury and has helped his team-leading .462 on-base percentage by reaching safely in nine of his last 10 outings. He is one of five Navs batters with multiple home runs for the summer, having hit his second last Thursday at Pittsfield.
A former St. John’s Prep star who calls Peabody home, MacGregor spent half of June hitting above the .400 mark and remains tops among FCBL qualifiers with a .384 average through 23 games as North Shore’s regular third baseman. He has also remained among the FCBL’s best despite missing time due to injury and recorded three hits, seven RBI, and four runs scored in his first two games after returning.
After earning All-New England honors as Southern Maine’s starting shortstop in the spring, Olszak has been one of the league’s most consistent hitters during his second summer with the Navs. Eleven of the Danvers native’s 42 hits — in total, three more than any other player in the FCBL — went for extra bases, helping him accumulate a .328 average. He leads the Navs with 14 multi-hit games.
Seguin has been an important piece to the pitching staff since joining the team after graduating from Austin Prep last month. The Woburn southpaw has fanned 24 batters while allowing just three runs in 15.1 frames. He struck out the side in back-to-back innings of relief during his June 18 debut against Pittsfield and held Bristol to one run in a six-inning start last Wednesday.
Wetterau’s average jumped from .265 to .310 in less than two weeks after hitting safely in 15 of his last 17 games as of the All-Star announcement. In addition to contributing 10 extra-base hits and 16 RBI to the Navs’ league-best offense, he has not made an error while primarily serving as a catcher and first baseman through 29 appearances.
“These guys have been a pleasure to coach and have earned this recognition,” said Odenwaelder, whose Navigators sit second in the FCBL standings at 19-15. “I’m excited to get them in front of some professional scouts.”
Next Tuesday’s All-Star activities will commence in the afternoon with batting practice and Scout Day. The annual Home Run Derby will begin at 6:20 p.m., while first pitch of the game is set for 7:15.
