FEATURE: Navs Anchored by Local Ties, Early Friendships

By Jason Glick

Nearly 1,500 miles from home, two years ago, two future North Shore Navigators could never have anticipated it.  It's the esteemed Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska, the site of the Stinger Sports High School Baseball Championship.

Look in the outfield? There's Danati Fronduto from Peabody and Danny Flynn from Danvers. They're donning the Massachusetts gold and red. Just two aspiring collegiate players having a blast before they'd think about taking their games to a summer collegiate baseball league.

Fast forward to their freshman years of college, and they've gone their separate ways. Fronduto's at San Jacinto, and Flynn's at Northeastern. The two North Shore kids glance across the other's social media posts and realize they'll be sharing another historic diamond at Fraser Field.

Fronduto and Flynn are just a couple of players of a large pool of local Navigators in 2026. Left-handed pitcher Josh Doney (UMass Lowell) is from Lynn, and he played with fellow southpaw Jack Zimmerman (Dayton) in high school at St. Mary's. Key starting pitcher Gian Gamelli (Notre Dame) resides nearby in Wenham. Right-handers Michael Geissler (Southeastern) and Jack Sarno (Northern Essex CC) are from Peabody and Newbury, respectively. Outfielder Hunter Kingsbury (Bryant) is from Byfield. 

With close to half the roster from Massachusetts, the North Shore region contributes a boatload of players to that total. While the roster encompasses out-of-state players from as far as Nevada, Texas and Florida, local players are living in the comfort of their own homes. 

While they're already away from home playing college baseball all year, it's allowed them to continue a similar workload while being with their families.

"Mom's happy," Kingsbury said. "Home-cooked meals are the best part about it."

Eating their parents' meals has been a consensus top highlight for the at-home experience. Kingsbury said nothing beats his mother's chicken parmesan. Fronduto can't resist a vodka pasta with chicken cutlets on top. Gamelli is happy to be home for his mother's lasagna and salmon. For Doney, it's chicken and rice. Many joke that they have two dinners — the team's provided postgame meal and one from their parents.

Food has been just one way for local Navs to acclimate to their New England Collegiate Baseball League experience. They're able to plan their days accordingly with their own routines, especially on off days.

When the Navs are at home, Fronduto takes advantage of time to sleep and rest. He eats, goes to the gym for a couple of hours and arrives at Fraser Field. After his postgame meal, he's in his Peabody residence. The television is probably on with some Love Island.

Fronduto actually played club baseball throughout his childhood with players like Flynn and Kingsbury. Flynn and Kingsbury were even catch partners during their high school years. Local players have played for various clubs like the Expos, Northeast Baseball and Legends.

With players reconvening from earlier parts in their lives, they've noticed differences in everyone's styles of play. Fronduto has known Flynn since they were eight years old. When reminiscing on their shared moments over a decade ago, Fronduto reflected on how his close friend progressed from his early days.

"In the cage one day, I walked by, and he was just smoking (the baseball)," he said. "I was like, 'Damn, you got good.'"

Now, Flynn has gotten off to a solid start for the Navs, batting .250 with eight stolen bases.

The turnaround from the player Fronduto joked Flynn was to who he is now was quickly cleaned up through training. It even took yelling from his biggest fan — his dad — who has never missed any of Flynn's games at any level. It was about understanding that he'd have so-called "haters" everywhere and needed to ignore them.

"I knew that baseball was something fun," Flynn said. "Then, it just turned into an obsession."

Gamelli met Flynn a little later down the line, at 12 years old, so he hardly even knew about what Fronduto was joking about. They also played alongside North Andover native starting pitcher Robert Brown (Penn State) and Gamelli, saying that if that squad stuck together, they could have done special things. It turns out they'll have another chance, with Gamelli fresh off a full recovery from Tommy John surgery and frequent training with a longtime pitching coach who he works with locally after heading to a nearby gym every day.

The connections even run in opposite dugouts. Gamelli recalls facing Zimmerman and Doney, when they played together at St. Mary's. The pair shared countless memories, including team haircuts. Zimmerman got a mullet while Doney bleached his hair.

The pre-existing memories and relationships have come a long way. From playful jabs to unique haircuts, the Navs have an upper edge due to their early connectivity.

So, when they scrolled on Instagram and saw Navigators commitment posts, some faces surely lit up. After all, they'd be together and sleeping in their own beds at their own houses and go to work with some old friends every day.

"I didn't think about going anywhere else," Fronduto said. "We were talking about it at school, and I was like, 'I'm going home, bro.' Are you kidding me? I'm not going somewhere else. I'm staying home."