Nighthawks Head To North Shore For First Meeting With Navigators

By Thaddeus Sawyer

When the Nighthawks (5-5-1) head to Lynn, Massachusetts on Thursday, they'll run into one of the league’s hottest teams.

The North Shore Navigators (5-6) carry a four-game winning streak into Thursday night’s contest at Fraser Field, the second-longest in the league behind the Martha’s Vineyard Sharks (10-1), who have fired off 10 straight wins since dropping their season opener. 

As evidenced by the fact that they still sit in the bottom half of the North Division standings, it’s been a tale of two seasons for the Navigators across the first quarter of the summer.

Despite a close 4-2 win over the North Division-leading Sanford Mainers (9-3) in game No. 2 of the season, the Navigators’ record was weighed down early by a 1-6 start. The four straight wins have the Navigators in position to get back to .500 for the first time since the second day of the season.

While the Navigators sit second-to-last in the league with a .346 on-base percentage, they’ve done damage when they’ve put it in play. The team’s .345 slugging percentage ranks third in the NECBL. They are top five in all of doubles, triples and home runs.

The Nighthawks will have the right guy on the mound to combat this approach. Mateo Wells (1-0, 0.93 ERA) hasn’t allowed an extra-base hit through his first 9 2/3 innings of work this summer.

His 12.10 strikeouts-per-nine rate will come in handy against a Navigators lineup that has struck out the third-fewest times in the league.

North Shore’s expected starter, Penn State right-hander Robert Brown, has also fared well through two starts. The Massachusetts native owns a 3.12 ERA across 8 2/3 innings. 

The sophomore was especially effective in his first start of the season on June 5 against the Keene SwampBats (6-4-1), tossing five innings without an earned run.

Offensively, Hudson Ellis has been the clear standout through his first six games with North Shore. In 25 plate appearances, the Oral Roberts infielder has slashed .529/.680/.882, good for a 1.562 OPS.

The shortstop leads qualified hitters in each of the aforementioned rate categories.

Outfielder Grant Hunter has posted an .981 OPS, while Grayson Carpenter and Danati Fronduto have each accumulated marks over .850.

While third baseman James Love has continued to produce at the plate, new Nighthawks shortstop Frank Kelly is giving the former NECBL Player of the Week a run for his money.

Kelly followed a 2-for-4 showing and game-tying RBI on Monday with a 4-for-5 performance and three RBIs in Wednesday’s 13-6 win over the Vermont Mountaineers (5-7).

Fellow middle infielder Alejandro Puig also looked to be heating up at the plate Wednesday, picking up two knocks and reaching base three times while producing three RBIs.

The same can be said about catcher Nick Quagliato, who posted his first multi-hit performance of the summer on Wednesday and will need to be a key bat for the Nighthawks moving forward.

The Nighthawks will be looking for as much firepower as possible as they look to get above .500 for the first time this season.

First pitch at Fraser Field is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. The game will stream live on ESPN+.