Navs’ Eighth-Inning Rally Falls Short Thursday in Danbury

DANBURY, Conn. — The North Shore Navigators put together a furious late-game rally with seven runs in the eighth inning, but fell 11-9 to the Danbury Westerners in Thursday night's New England Collegiate Baseball League game at Rogers Park. 

Leadoff-hitting shortstop Hudson Ellis (Oral Roberts) went 2-for-4 with two runs scored while right fielder Lane Allen opened the big inning with a three-run home run for North Shore, which slipped to 14-14 on the season and had its three-game win streak come to an end.

Ellis quickly sparked the Navs offense in the opening inning, knocking a leadoff double to left field before stealing third and scoring on an RBI single by Peabody native first baseman Danati Fronduto (San Jacinto) two batters later. 

While Danbury designated hitter Ronan Donohue (Sacred Heart) hit a two-out RBI single to tie the game, Navs starter Giancarlo Arencibia (New Orleans) dialed up a strikeout to limit the damage to one run.

The Westerners extended their lead with four runs over the following three innings, highlighted by RBI doubles from left fielder Ryan Martin (Dallas Baptist) and third baseman Ryan Preisano (Wake Forest). Newbury native and St. John's Prep product Jack Sarno (Northern Essex CC) then held the hosts scoreless in the fifth, getting through a 1-2-3 frame with a strikeout.

Danbury's most productive inning was a five-run sixth. After a pair of one-out hits set up Preisano for a sacrifice fly, Martin's two-run double and first baseman Kyle Garbowski's (Quinnipiac) two-run triple punctuated the frame.

North Shore got a run back in the seventh. Second baseman Jack Rickheim (Harvard) lined a two-out double down the right-field line to jumpstart the inning. After Ellis beat out an infield single, a failed pickoff attempt allowed Rickheim to scamper home. 

Donohue led off Danbury's half of the frame with a solo homer to right, but John Milewski (Brandeis) induced a 4-6-3 double play ball to record his first two outs before stranding two on base with an inning-ending strikeout.

The Navs got their eighth-inning rally started with left fielder Grant Hunter (Binghamton) and designated hitter Tyler Shulman (Harvard) drawing consecutive one-out walks, and Allen brought them both home with his three-run shot off the left-center field scoreboard.

The offense continued with two outs, as pinch hitter Daniel Leikus (Rhode Island) reached on a two-out fielding error and Rickheim and Ellis drew walks to load the bases. Center fielder Hunter Kingsbury (Bryant) reached base on another miscue as two runs scored before leading Ellis home on a successful double steal.

After Kingsbury took third on a wild pitch, Fronduto and Hunter both walked to load the bases again, and Shulman drew a four-pitch free pass to force home another run. 

Milewski struck out a pair in a scoreless eighth, but North Shore was unable to get any closer on the scoreboard as Garrett Snyder (Houston) finished a four-out save to finish the win for Chase DePalma (Virginia Wesleyan). The Danbury starter pitched five innings of one-run ball before Tyler Stone (Virginia Tech) struck out seven over the following 2.2.

Garbowski and right fielder Jack Lutte (Denison) both had three-hit games to lead Danbury's 15-hit attack.

The Navs return to Fraser Field on Friday night for the first of back-to-back home games, welcoming the Keene SwampBats for a 6:05 p.m. first pitch. On Saturday, the Upper Valley Nighthawks visit Lynn for another North Division matchup at 5:05 p.m.