Ellis Sets Single-Season Stolen Base Record at Upper Valley

WHITE RIVER JUNCTION, Vt. — Hudson Ellis set a single-season franchise record with his 25th stolen base of the summer, but the North Shore Navigators fell 3-1 to the Upper Valley Nighthawks in New England Collegiate Baseball League action at Maxfield Sports Complex.

The Oral Roberts shortstop reached base to lead off the top of the ninth inning and proceeded to steal second and third base, breaking the record set by outfielder JP Knight (Tufts) in 2018. Ellis has swiped 26 bases in 28 attempts.

Byfield native center fielder Hunter Kingsbury (Bryant) recorded a hit and scored a run for North Shore, which had a three-game win streak come to an end and fell to 17-15 on the summer.

The duo of Justin Fryer (Northwestern) and Cam Freeman (Longwood) provided strong work out of the Navs' bullpen, allowing just four base hits and one unearned run across the final four innings. Both recorded a pair of strikeouts.

Upper Valley jumped out to a 2-0 lead that stood up for the entirety of the night, scoring single runs in each of the first two innings. In the first, shortstop Frank Kelly (High Point) hit a leadoff knock to right, stole second, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on third baseman James Love's (Eastern Illinois) double into the right-center field gap.

The hosts doubled their lead when left fielder Kyle Langley (James Madison) scored on a wild pitch after singling, stealing second and reaching third on a sacrifice. Navs starter Giancarlo Arencibia (New Orleans) induced a fly ball to end the inning without any further damage.

Arencibia bounced back with a 1-2-3 third inning and faced the minimum over the next two frames, thanks to catcher Daniel Leikus (Rhode Island) throwing out an attempted base stealer to end the fourth.

Fryer relieved Arencibia after four innings of two-run ball and pitched two scoreless frames, working out of a two-on, one-out jam to end the fifth before stranding a leadoff single in the sixth.

North Shore broke the shutout and made it a one-run game in the seventh, as Kingsbury beat out an infield single to the second baseman and stole second before an errant pickoff throw moved him to third and a wild pitch scored him. First baseman Anderson French (Dallas Baptist) then drew a walk, but the Navs were unable to scratch across any further offense.

The home half of the seventh saw the Nighthawks get that run back. Kelly was hit by a two-out pitch and wound up scoring on a throwing error after center fielder Alex Kelsey's (Kentucky) single. Freeman stranded another baserunner to end the inning.

After Upper Valley closer Brendan Walker (Bryant) finished his first of two innings in 1-2-3 fashion, Ellis reached on a fielding error to begin the ninth, setting up the opportunity for his record-setting stolen base. Leikus followed with a walk to bring the tying run to the plate, but Walker saved the victory for Joey Young (Xavier) with back-to-back outs.

The Navs continue North Division play as they return to Fraser Field for a Wednesday night matchup against the Sanford Mainers. First pitch is set for 6:05 p.m.