Bravehearts

Bravehearts Come Up Short Against Navigators

Worcester’s red-hot bats finally cool off in 5-1 loss

 

Lynn, MA— After breaking a scoreless ballgame in the 6th inning, Worcester’s offense could not deliver any more runs and the bullpen could not hold the lead as they lost 5-1.




The Bravehearts took the lead in the sixth against North Shore starter Matt O’Connor. Mariano Ricciardi singled and advanced to second on a ground ball hit by Chris Rinaldi. Michael Dellicarri then ripped an RBI double to right allowing Ricciardi to score Worcester’s only run. Ricciardi finished the day with three hits.




The Navigators would immediately respond in the bottom half of the inning against Worcester reliever Rob Stone. After a Sal Frelick double, Stone hit Elias Varinos and Harrison Engstrom to load the bases with one out. Edward Lehr then entered the game in relief for Stone and gave up a sacrifice fly off the bat of J.P. Knight to tie the game at one. An RBI single by Dominic Keegan allowed Varinos to score, giving North Shore the lead. The next batter, Michael Wynne, hit an RBI single, scoring Engstrom and giving the Navigators a 3-1 lead.




The Bravehearts did have chances to come back. With one out and a runner on third, North Shore reliever Dylan Gaita struck out two straight batters to get out of the jam. In the eighth inning, Worcester had runners on the corners after Ricciardi singled and Dellicarri was hit by a pitch. Dellicarri was thrown out trying to steal second on a controversial call to end the inning.




The Navs extended their lead in the bottom of the eighth thanks to an RBI single off the bat of Keegan, which gave North Shore a 4-1 advantage. Knight stole third and then scored on a throwing error by Worcester catcher Paul Gozzo to make it a 5-1 game.




O’Connor picked up the win for the Navs, pitching 6.0 innings and giving up one run off six hits. Rob Stone got the loss for the Bravehearts. Worcester starter Joseph Mancini threw four scoreless innings.




With the loss, the Bravehearts fall to 29-16 while the Navigators improve to 16-28. Worcester continues play on the road tomorrow night in Brockton at 7:00 pm.