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Powerful Navs Batters Maintain Collegiate Streaks

04/22/2024 11:29 AM

Until the North Shore Navigators assemble at Fraser Field to begin the 2024 New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) season in early June, the team will be highlighting its incoming players’ top performances each week on nsnavs.com and social media.

Below is the ninth installment of the Navs' College Baseball Report, which will appear weekly on Mondays.

LYNN, Mass. — More big hits headlined the 10th week of collegiate action for incoming members of the North Shore Navigators, as NECBL play begins in under two months.

Returning Navigator Matt Chatelle (Merrimack) continued hitting the cover off the ball, going 7-for-16 with three home runs and 10 RBI across four games last week. Chatelle’s week started with a home run against Maine on Wednesday and was highlighted by a 3-for-6 day with another home run and five RBI against Northeast Conference foe Norfolk State on Friday. With a weekend of power, the catcher brought his home run total to seven with 26 RBI on the season.

Fellow North Shore veteran Sawyer Duarte (Middlebury) pitched six innings to earn the Panthers’ win over Amherst on Saturday. Duarte allowed just one run while striking out two Mammoth batters, as he led Middlebury to a division-leading sixth win in conference play. Saturday marked Duarte’s second win in his last three starts and was the fourth time this season that he pitched at least six innings in a start.

Back at the plate, power was also the story for Alex Luccini (UMass Lowell), whose grand slam on Saturday highlighted his 4-for-11 weekend for the River Hawks against Bryant. Luccini scored two runs himself and added a stolen base to his America East Conference-leading tally of 13. He also leads the River Hawks in average at .307 and home runs with eight so far this spring. 

Danny MacDougall (Endicott) went 5-for-11 with three doubles and four walks across his first three games of the week for the No. 1-ranked Gulls. MacDougall finished 2-for-4 with at least one double in two contests, notching two against Suffolk last Tuesday and scoring twice against No. 15 Eastern Connecticut on Saturday. MacDougall’s 11 doubles this season currently leads the Endicott team, while his four additional stolen bases brought his team-leading total to 25, good for 15th in all of Division 3 baseball and tops among Navs players.

Kyle Wolff (Boston College) went 5-for-10 over his first three games of last week. Wolff began with a 2-for-3 contest against Connecticut on Wednesday while collecting a walk, a double and one RBI. Wolff proceeded to go 3-for-5 on Saturday against Notre Dame, marking his sixth game of the season with at least three hits. Wolff currently leads the Eagles in average at .351, doubles with 13 and RBI with 40. 

Ryan MacDougall (Dayton) posted strong performances in out-of-conference play, going 4-for-7 against Akron and Ohio on Tuesday and Wednesday. MacDougall tallied two RBI while going 2-for-4 in the first of those games, his ninth multi-hit game and his sixth multi-RBI game this year. Flyers teammate Mason Dobie went 2-for-4 in the Wednesday game, turning in two RBI and scoring a run of his own. Dobie has also recorded multiple hits nine times. 

Reece Moroney (Rhode Island) finished with a 4-for-10 line against George Washington on Friday and Saturday. The shortstop was 2-for-5 in each of the first two games against the Revolutionaries, recording a double, three RBI and three runs scored. Moroney bumped his average up to .269 after his solid weekend.   

The hot bat was in full effect for Will Burns (Maine), a recent addition to the North Shore roster who went 2-for-4 with two doubles and one RBI on Sunday against Rider. Burns’ performance was his third multi-hit game of the season and his first with more than one extra-base hit, as he exited with a .333 average and five doubles this season. He has reached base in the Black Bears’ last seven consecutive games.

Another Nav riding an on-base streak is Kyle Jones (Stetson), who has reached base safely in a whopping 28 straight games following another 8-for-18 week. Jones first went 4-for-5 with one RBI and two stolen bases against Bethune-Cookman last Tuesday. He followed up that performance with a 3-for-4 Friday against North Alabama. Jones added a double to his season tally this weekend, while scoring five runs and swiping three bags, giving him an Atlantic Sun-leading 19 steals. Jones also sits in second in the conference in on-base percentage at .494, while leading the Hatters with a .363 average and 11 doubles. 

Back on the mound, Zane Coppersmith (Stetson) followed in the footsteps of his Hatter teammate over two appearances against North Alabama, tossing 3.2 scoreless innings while allowing just two hits and striking out five. Coppersmith earned his second save on Friday, dealing 2.2 innings in his second four-strikeout outing of the season. Ten of his 13 games as a freshman have been scoreless.

Peabody native and former St. John’s Prep standout Joe Castrichini (Stonehill) collected four strikeouts over two innings of work in the Skyhawks’ Sunday win over LIU. Castrichini allowed just one baserunner, turning in his fourth scoreless appearance this season. Navs returnees Jack Iannibelli and Pierce Friedman put up perfect inning-long appearances for the Skyhawks on Long Island. Iannibelli tossed two strikeouts in his Friday frame before Friedman took the hill on Saturday and added a strikeout to his tally.

Truman Pauley (Harvard) logged his third multi-inning performance without allowing a run in his last four appearances on Saturday against Dartmouth. The first-year righty pitched three innings, allowing just two hits while striking out four Big Green batters to close out a Crimson win and earn his first collegiate save. Pauley has racked up 18 strikeouts in 13.1 innings of one-run ball across his last four appearances. 

The Navigators will return to historic Fraser Field and the NECBL for their 17th summer season in 2024, with first pitch set for Tuesday, June 4. Stay up to date on the latest Navs news — including further updates on current and former players — by visiting nsnavs.com and following the team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.