LYNN — Four runs over the final two innings allowed the Ocean State Waves to edge past the North Shore Navigators for a 5-1 win over the North Shore Navigators in Wednesday night’s New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) action at Fraser Field.
North Shore lost its second consecutive game following a three-game winning streak, falling to 6-18 on the season. Ocean State broke a 1-1 tie with one run in the eighth inning and three in the ninth to move to 11-15.
First baseman Connor Bertsch (Dartmouth) went 2-for-4, while right fielder Stan DeMartinis (Bryant) singled, reached base three times and scored the lone North Shore run. Second baseman Max Viera (Seton Hall) drove in the Navs’ run on a seventh-inning single, accounting for another one of the team’s six hits.
After making his first five appearances out of the bullpen, Matt Potok (Coastal Carolina) gave the Navs a strong first start of his season. The righty allowed just one run on six hits and struck out four across seven innings, facing the minimum in three different innings.
Potok and Ocean State counterpart Joe Cinnella (Seton Hall) matched each other’s zeros over the first five innings before the visitors drew first blood on left fielder Peter Ciuffreda’s (Lafayette) one-out single to right in the sixth.
The North Shore defense did its part in preserving a shutout for nearly two-thirds of the game, turning double plays in the first, third and fifth innings. Navs third baseman Brady O’Brien (Colby), Viera and shortstop Jonathan Luders (Seton Hall) all had a hand in starting twin killings.
North Shore knotted the score in the seventh as DeMartinis and O’Brien logged back-to-back singles with one out to start a rally. After Luders lined out to shortstop, left fielder Jake McElroy (Holy Cross) walked to load the bases and Viera snuck a run-scoring single through the left side.
After the Navs’ Max Tarlin relieved Potok to begin the eighth inning, Waves right fielder Jake Studley (UConn) drove a go-ahead, two-out home run to put the visitors back in front. Three straight one-out baserunners produced three runs in the ninth, including two on a single by center fielder Daniel Baruch (Boston College).
North Shore had chances to cut into its deficit, leaving multiple runners on base in the sixth through eighth innings. In a 1-1 game in the seventh, the bases were left loaded after Brandyn Garcia (Quinnipiac) put up a strikeout that helped him earn his first win of the summer.
Brooks Ey (VCU) pitched two shutout innings with three strikeouts to earn his third save. Studley and Baruch both logged two hits to lead the Ocean State offense.
Tarlin took the loss after allowing the final four Ocean State runs (three earned) on three hits in two innings.
The Navs have Thursday off before resuming their four-game homestand at 6:35 p.m. Friday against the Danbury Westerners. It will be “Bark in the Park” Night at Fraser Field, presented by Healthy Pet in Lynn and Peabody. Fans who bring their dogs to the ballpark will receive free admission.
