LYNN — The North Shore Navigators pitched their first shutout of the New England Collegiate Baseball League season on Friday night, scoring in four of their eight at-bats and limiting the Keene Swamp Bats to four hits on the way to a 10-0 win at Fraser Field.
North Shore improved to 3-2-1 on the season as it snapped a brief two-game losing streak, while Keene’s record moved to 2-2 following the setback.
Left fielder David Kale (Fordham), second baseman Jake Gustin (Bryant) and third baseman Jonathan Luders (Seton Hall) each recorded two hits as the team totaled eight on the way to the easy victory. Luders led the way with three RBI, while first baseman Logan Bravo (Harvard) and center fielder Joe Lomuscio (Stanford) both drove in two runs apiece.
On the mound, Swampscott native Luke Marshall (Stonehill) pitched the first six innings in his second appearance of the season. He combined with Zach Chappell (North Florida) and Chris Shine (Seton Hall) to post the shutout.
North Shore drew first blood without the benefit of a hit in the second inning as Bravo walked with one out and scored on a passed ball and two wild pitches. Keene starter Zach Davidson (Lincoln Trail) escaped further damage with his second strikeout of the frame, leaving Kale stranded on third following a two-out walk.
Marshall made Bravo’s run stand up as he turned in a spectacular outing, allowing just two hits and one walk while striking out six. Marshall posted three 1-2-3 innings and retired nine straight batters between the third and sixth frames as part of the longest outing by a North Shore starter over the first week of the summer.
The Navs broke the game open with a five-run, three-hit fourth inning that chased Davidson in the midst. All of North Shore’s runs in the frame scored with two outs as Luders cleared the bases on a three-run double into left after McElroy and shortstop Alex Lemery (Marymount) walked between Kale singled into the shortstop hole.
After Gustin reached base for the second straight inning on a walk, Lomuscio dropped a two-run double into shallow right to extend North Shore’s count to 6-0. The Navs ended up sending all nine men to the plate in their most productive offensive inning on the season thus far.
Lomuscio started the seventh with a leadoff walk and came across on Bravo’s run-scoring triple to deep center, the team’s third extra-base hit of the game. North Shore wasn’t done as it managed to hit around for the second time and score three more runs an inning later.
Kale reached on an error to start the inning and scored on a wild pitch. Pinch-hitting shortstop Matthias Haas (Cal Poly) drew a walk and crossed the plate on Gustin’s knock through the right side, while Keene reliever Lenny Washington (Gardner-Webb) issued his third free pass of the inning to Bravo to plate the final run of the game.
A pair of relievers followed Marshall out of the bullpen and preserved the clean sheet. Chappell allowed two hits and fanned a pair across the next two frames, while Shine closed the door with a 1-2-3 frame that included the team’s ninth strikeout of the night.
The Navs hit the road to White River Junction, Vt., for the first time this summer as they will take on the Upper Valley Nighthawks at 6 p.m. on Saturday.
