Jam-Packed Week for Navs as NECBL Opening Day Approaches

Below is the 12th Navs College Baseball Report of the 2026 season. Weekly installments will be posted by Tuesday throughout the spring.

LYNN, Mass. — Here are the latest college highlights for the team's incoming players:

It was quite the week for the future Navs at Dayton, helping the Flyers to another Atlantic 10 series victory against La Salle. Left-handed starter John Delgado completed seven innings for the second consecutive start on Saturday, allowing just two earned runs on four hits, striking out eight. He now has an even 60 strikeouts on the season, which is good for an 11.4 K/9 ratio.

Grayson Carpenter continued to impress in his collegiate debut season, collecting four more hits, four RBI, four runs scored and five walks, while only striking out once across four games last week. He went 2-for-2 with a double in Friday's series-opening win over La Salle. 

However, the most impressive performer for the Flyers of late has been Jason Bello, who launched four home runs, drove in eight and raised his season OPS to 1.008. The sophomore went 2-for-4 with a pair of homers and three RBI as part of the team's 21-run outburst in Sunday's series-clinching win. He had more home runs than strikeouts this past week — yes, you read that correctly!

Grant Hunter came through in a big way for his America East-leading Binghamton squad this week. After socking a pinch-hit, three-run home run in Tuesday's win over Le Moyne, he singled in the game-tying run in the 11th inning of the Bearcats' eventual 8-7 Saturday victory over Maine. Hunter has now hit safely in four straight games. 

Rhode Island's Danny Leikus has been one of the hottest soon-to-be Navs in recent weeks, and this might have been his best week yet. He ripped seven hits, three of which were doubles, drove in four runs, and did not strike out a single time. Since April 4, Leikus has raised his batting average from .222 to .301, and his OPS from .498 to .771.

Though Harvard's Jack Rickheim had his season-best hit streak come to an end at 15 games on Sunday in the season finale against Princeton, he finished the season with a .303 average and posted four RBI and four runs scored over the final week. Two of his hits went for extra bases, including a leadoff home run last midweek against Holy Cross. Rickheim's streak may have come to a close, but Tyler Shulman had hits in all three games of the Crimson's season-ending sweep. He also scored twice and knocked in two runs. 

Hunter Kingsbury enjoyed another strong week for Bryant. The Byfield native and former Governor's Academy star added five hits to his season total, two of which were doubles. Kingsbury put together multi-hit games against Holy Cross and NJIT. He has 25 RBI and 25 runs scored on the year, and has also swiped 19 bags.

San Jacinto slugger Danati Fronduto is another North Shore local winding down a strong season, as he went 3-for-3 with a double and two RBI in a Friday victory over Coastal Bend. The Peabody native boasts a .353 average with nine homers and 42 RBI for the season, which leads the Navs' incoming players.

Whenever Hofstra needs insurance, it turns to Michael Brown. He's emerged as its clear top hitter, recording hits on a third of his at-bats on the season. Brown had seven hits last week, and five came in consecutive games against St. John's and Towson. The shortstop also scored six runs — and now leads the team with 41 — along with four RBI and a stolen base this week.

Another Navigator who has helped his team stack up conference series wins is Oral Roberts' Hudson Ellis. Though he recently had a 26-game on-base streak snapped, Ellis had four hits and four RBI to help the Golden Eagles sweep Oklahoma State and St. Thomas. 

Northwestern jumped out to two wins over Milwaukee and Indiana last week, and catcher Jay Slater proved to be the difference in the latter one. His first-inning single and fourth-inning sacrifice fly batted two runs in to give the Wildcats early offense.

Cam Freeman made some noise out of the Longwood bullpen in recent games against VMI and High Point, striking out three without allowing a run across two appearances. While the Lancers conceded 10 runs to the Panthers early, Freeman stopped the bleeding as their first pitcher to not allow a score. The junior also extended his strikeout streak to seven outings.

Two incoming North Shore pitchers are coming off strong season debuts, as Boston College's Aidan Gelbsman and Northeastern's Cam Keaveney both recorded scoreless innings. Gelbsman stranded a pair of baserunners and struck out one in his inning of work for the nationally-ranked Eagles on Saturday at Clemson, while Keaveney faced the minimum on just 11 pitches last Wednesday against Maine. 

Fellow Northeastern freshman Thomas Mahoney posted his fourth straight scoreless appearance on Sunday against Monmouth, recording two crucial outs to stranded the bases loaded in the seventh inning of a three-run game. He now has 10 strikeouts in 8.2 innings on the season. 

Keaveney, Mahoney and the Huskies are coming off facing Simmi Whitehill's Monmouth team in a CAA weekend series. The returning Navigator continued his hot hitting with two knocks, including a two-run triple and a run scored on Friday. Whitehill's 39 RBI are tops on the Hawks.

Also returning to the Fraser Field infield, Conor Moriarty reached base in his final four games of the spring at Bowdoin. He had a season-best 3-for-4 day with two doubles last Tuesday against Maine before scoring three runs in the Polar Bears' NESCAC playoff series against Middlebury.

The Navigators will return to historic Fraser Field and the NECBL for their 19th summer season in 2026, with first pitch set for Friday, June 5. Stay up to date on the latest Navs news by visiting nsnavs.com and following the team on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram.