BROCKTON — The North Shore Navigators returned to the top of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League standings with Wednesday’s win at Campanelli Stadium, using a pair of two-run innings to defeat the Brockton Rox, 4-2.
North Shore curbed its three-game losing streak and improved to 26-20 while Brockton slid to 24-20.
Five Navigators posted multiple-hit games. Designated hitter Logan Bravo (Harvard) led the way, going 3-for-4 with three RBI and one run scored on his sixth home run. Second baseman Dominic Freeberger (UNC Asheville) was also a repeat hitter through four at-bats, scored twice, and drove in another run.
On the mound, Jake Gigliotti (Northeastern) earned the win after striking out six and allowing just one hit and one walk over 3.1 innings of scoreless relief. Saugus’ Todd Tringale (UMass) pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his first save.
Third baseman Andrew Olszak (Southern Maine) hit a one-out single to start North Shore’s offense before center fielder Ben Malgeri (Holy Cross) knocked a ground rule double. Rox starter John Mikosz (Wheaton) stranded both runners on base, but the Navs scored twice in the following frame to take the game’s first lead.
North Shore’s second-inning offense began with Freeberger dropping a single into shallow center. Bravo followed with a towering two-run shot, allowing him to tie Sean Lawlor (Flagler) for the team’s home run lead.
After Navs starter Cedric Gillette (Merrimack) started the night with a 1-2-3 inning, the hosts halved their deficit on first baseman Anthony Calarco’s (Northwestern) RBI single in the bottom of the second.
Center fielder Evan Sleight’s (Virginia) run-scoring grounder to second base allowed Brockton to even the score in the third. Gillette held the Rox off the board for the remainder of his third start, finishing with four strikeouts in 4.2 innings of two-run, six-hit ball.
Gigliotti inherited two runners when he took the mound in the bottom of the fifth, but he struck out right fielder Andrew Marra (Georgetown) to end Brockton’s threat.
It remained tied until the eighth. Malgeri opened the game-winning frame with a leadoff double and advanced to third on right fielder Kade Kretzschmar’s (Dartmouth) fly ball. Freeberger was credited with the deciding RBI as his fielder’s choice turned into two bases after a throwing error.
Gigliotti retired the first seven batters he faced. Sleight’s triple to center, a hit batter, and a walk loaded the bases with two outs in Brockton’s half of the eighth, but shortstop Nick Shumski (Merrimack) took a called third strike.
After Gigliotti finished the work that led to his second win, Tringale was called from the bullpen and set Brockton aside on just nine pitches in the ninth.
The same two teams will conclude their home-and-home series at 10:30 a.m. Thursday from Fraser Field.
