Original link: http://www.necbl.com/view/necbl/news-1185/news_537134
North Shore Navigators 14, Keene Swamp Bats 3
The five-seed North Shore Navigators (3-1) blew out, upset and knocked the one-seed Keene Swamp Bats out of the postseason in a do-or-die ballgame to advance to the Northern Division Finals at Alumni Field on Saturday night. Navigators starting pitcher Zach Chappell (University of North Florida) tossed five solid innings of work for his victorious underdog team (4 hits, 3 earned runs, 4 walks, 6 strikeouts), and fellow starter Jake Berry (University of Virginia) was roughed up in his first appearance of the postseason (0.2 IP, 3 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 1 K).
North Shore opened up the contest in the top of the first inning with a five-run campaign that saw an RBI single by center fielder Joseph Lomuscio (Stanford University) and a grand slam by left fielder Hunter Baldwin (Harvard University) to take an early 5-0 lead. A second-inning solo homer by third baseman Jake McElroy (College of the Holy Cross) and a two-run shot by first baseman Logan Bravo (Harvard University) made it an 8-0 score early on. The Swamp Bats tallied all three of their runs in this affair in the home half of the fifth thanks to a bases-loaded walk and a two-run single hit by designated hitter Matt Almonte (Pace University), their final runs of the summer.
The Navs recorded six more runs in the visitor’s half of the eighth inning courtesy of a pair of RBI doubles by Bravo and Lomuscio, the latter driving home two runners, an RBI single by designated hitter Matthias Haas (Cal Poly San Luis Obispo) and another longball by Baldwin, this time a two-run jack, to all but finalize the score in this one and advance their Lynn, Massachusetts, squad to the next round versus the two-seed Upper Valley Nighthawks.
Martha’s Vineyard Sharks 6, Ocean State Waves 0
The one-seed Martha’s Vineyard Sharks swept and shut out the six-seed Ocean State Waves in Game 2 of the teams’ Divisional Semifinals to advance to the Southern Division Finals at Old Mountain Field on Saturday night. Sharks starting pitcher Jackson Nezuh (Florida State University) threw the definition of a gem for the winning team on the road to propel them to the next round (7 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 12 K), and fellow starter Liam Dvorak (College of the Holy Cross) suffered the loss despite a solid outing for the Waves (3 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K).
The Sharks tallied three runs in the top of the second inning by way of an RBI double by left fielder Collin Shapiro (University of Massachusetts Amherst), an error committed by Ocean State and an RBI by second baseman Jadyn Jackson (Georgia Tech) to take an early 3-0 lead. Another three-run inning, this time in the visitor’s half of the eighth inning, Martha’s Vineyard brought the score to its final with the help of an RBI single by first baseman Matt Woods (Bryant University), an error committed and a wild pitch thrown by the Waves. Sharks relief pitcher Clark Klitenic (Yale University) shut down Ocean State in the final two innings of action and helped advance his team to the Southern Division Finals versus the four-seed Danbury Westerners.
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