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Navs Snag Big Win in Brockton, 4-2

07/24/2019 8:10 PM

By Joshua Kummins

BROCKTON, Mass. -- The North Shore Navigators returned to the top of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League standings with a Wednesday night win at Campanelli Stadium, using a pair of two-run innings to down the Brockton Rox, 4-2.

North Shore curbed its three-game losing streak and improved to 26-20 on the season, while Brockton slid to 24-20 and saw a three-game win streak come to an end.

Five Navigators posted multiple-hit games en route to out-hitting the Rox, 13-7. Designated hitter Logan Bravo (Harvard) led the way, going 3-for-4 with three RBI and one run scored on his sixth home run of the season. 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 native Todd Tringale (UMass) pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to lock down his first save of the summer.

Third baseman Andrew Olszak (Southern Maine) hit a one-out single to start up North Shore’s offense before center fielder Ben Malgeri (Holy Cross) knocked a ground rule double to left. 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 over the left-field bullpens that landed completely out of the stadium, allowing him to tie Sean Lawlor (Flagler) for the team’s home run lead.

After Navs starter Cedric Gillette (Merrimack) started the night off 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. Calarco was one of seven Rox with single hits throughout the game.

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 the future Husky righty struck out right fielder Andrew Marra (Georgetown) to end Brockton’s threat.

The game remained tied until the eighth when the Navs sent six batters to the plate and scored two runs. Malgeri opened the game-winning frame with a leadoff double and advanced to third on right fielder Kade Kretzschmar’s (Dartmouth) deep fly ball. Freeberger was credited with the deciding RBI as his fielder’s choice to first turned into two bases after a throwing error.

Gigliotti retired the first seven batters he faced during his tenth relief stint of the summer. 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 to extinguish the threat.

After Gigliotti finished the work that led to his second win as a Navigator reliever, Tringale was called from the bullpen and set Brockton aside on just nine pitches in the ninth. He earned his first save as a result.

Mikosz struck out seven and scattered nine hits over six innings as Brockton’s starter. Brad Marchetti (Tufts) dropped to 0-3 as the losing pitcher after allowing four hits and the winning runs at the end of his three-inning appearance.

The same two teams will conclude their home-and-home series at 10:30 a.m. Thursday from Fraser Field.