Sunday, July 6, 2008

LIVE: Navs prepare for divisional clash with Keene

We're finally back at Fraser, and we finally have beautiful, sunny weather. After two difficult losses against the iron of the NECBL, the Navs hope to return the favor tonight against the Keene Swamp Bats. Game time is scheduled for 7 PM.

The Swamp Bats have had the Navs number so far, beating them on three occasions - 2-0 at Fraser on June 8, 4-3 on June 19 in Keene, and again in Keene last Thursday, 12-7.

In my opinion, these are the two best teams in the NECBL. It should be an intriguing game.

NORTH SHORE NAVIGATORS (13-8) vs. KEENE SWAMP BATS (15-6)
Fraser Field - Lynn, MA - 7:00 PM
PITCHERS >
NSR: Matt Costello (first appearance of season)
KEE: Sean Bierman (2-0, 1.66 ERA, .190 OAVG, 4 GS)


LIVE UPDATES
KEE 0 0 0 / 0 0 0 / 0 0 0 - 0 1 5
NSR 2 0 1 / 0 3 2 / 0 2 - 10 12 1

9:30 PM: Navs win, Navs win. Almost too easy tonight, 10-0. A great total team effort.

9:16 PM: We go to the 9th. Adam Herter in to pitch, coming out of the bullpen for the first time this season after making several starts.

9:15 PM: Kyle Geason lines an RBI single- double digits for the Navs, 10-0.

9:12 PM: Zurcher makes it 9-0 with an RBI single in the 8th.

8:55 PM: Krull comes in to pitch the 8th - excellent first start for Mr. Costello.

8:48 PM: Costello cruises through the 7th, 1-2-3 - so much for tiring. Seven shutout, 1-hit innings for Costello.

8:45 PM: Costello is back out there to start the 7th.

8:41 PM: Welcome, Mr. Cote - and welcome back, Mr. Graham. Kent Graham smashes a 2 run jack to left field, his first dinger of the year, and it's 8-0 Navs. The rout is on.

8:38 PM: Lefty Tim Cote in to pitch for Keene. Bierman went 5 innings, giving up 6 runs on 6 hits. 2 walks, 5 Ks.

8:36 PM: Cliff Hicks grounds out to end the inning - Costello has gone 6 strong, and that should be it for him today.

8:35 PM: Costello looks to be running out of gas a bit, walking two here in the 6th, leading to some action down in the bullpen. Before the game, we were told that Falcon was looking to get about 5 innings out of Costello, so going into the 6th here is a bonus.

8:30 PM: Off-topic note: So much for ESPN's window of exclusivity. The Sunday Night Red Sox-Yankees tilt is underway, but two games are still ongoing: the Braves and the Astros are tied at 6 in the top of the 16th, while the Mariners and the Tigers are tied at 1 in the 15th.

8:26 PM: Yes, Keene has made 5 errors. No, that is not a misprint. 3 of them have come on failed pickoff attempts.

8:25 PM: Belcher does it again, hitting a sac fly to right to score McNaughton and make it 6-0 through 5 innings of play.

8:22 PM: McNaughton rings a base hit up the middle which brings Provencher plateward. 5-0!

8:20 PM: Provencher blasts a triple to the wall in left to score Little and make it 4-0. The Navigators now have eight triples this season, most in the Northern Division.

8:17 PM: Little's speed makes things happen again - he hits a chopper to the second baseman, who has to hurry the throw over to first - it goes wide and Little reaches base again.

8:16 PM: Geason goes down by way of the K, the 6th strikeout for Bierman so far.

8:15 PM: Another quiet inning - it's still 3-0 Navigators here in the home half of the 5th. Kyle Geason is leading it off for North Shore.

8:01 PM: Costello has been incredibly impressive through 4 for North Shore, striking out 3 and allowing just one hit.

7:52 PM: Nick Belcher does it again in the home half of the third, ripping an RBI single up the middle to score McNaughton. Then he stole 2nd and reached 3rd on the catcher's throwing error, putting a runner on 3rd with 2 out for Kuehl.

7:40 PM: Mike Piazza and his dog, Seabiscuit, are on fire tonight. I think he went 11-for-12 in catching frisbees on the field at the end of the second inning..

7:34 PM: Another quick inning for Costello.

7:25 PM: And McNaughton trots home on a passed ball, 2-0.

7:20 PM: Belcher cranks an RBI double to left, scoring Little and putting runners on 2nd + 3rd. 1-0 Navs

7:15 PM: Speed kills. Little takes off for second and Bierman's pickoff attempt goes astray, allowing Little to scamper to third base.

7:12 PM: After Costello mowed down Keene 1-2-3 in the top of the first, Little leads off the home half with a Baltimore Chop single.

7:05 PM: And we're off. The sun is already pretty low on the third base side... the days are officially getting shorter.

6:23 PM: A quick shoutout to Sgt. D. Allen, of Lynn, MA, a longtime fan of baseball at Fraser Field, currently serving his third tour of duty in Iraq, and his wife, Nilda Liz Allen. Thanks for your support and you are in our thoughts!

6:15 PM: The Navs are taking infield practice. I mention this only because it seems like it's been weeks since the Navigators were able to successfully complete batting practice and infield practice without rain interruption.

6:13 PM: Not-so-humorous note: My camera finally died on me after six years of faithful service, so unless one of the other guys steps up with a camera tonight, no live photo-blog. The picture below was found via Google image search for the benefit of those who've never seen the logo behind home plate.

6:12 PM: Humorous note: The spirit of the Spirit won't go away - the big painted logo behind home plate has pretty much completely re-appeared, emerging from the paint job put over it by the city just before opening day. Personally, I don't mind. The logo is nice.


6:03 PM: Mike Costello will be making his first start of the season on the hill for the Navigators after tearing it up at the plate in his first week of action (.364, 1 HR, 4 RBI)

Sean Bierman, one of the top starting pitchers in the NECBL, will get the ball for the Swamp Bats. Bierman is 2-0 with a 1.66 ERA, with opponents hitting .190 against him in 4 starts this season. The 6-foot lefty is a student at Vanderbilt and a 2007 draft pick of the Cincinnati Reds.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hey there, I found this post in my blog's stats. Turns out that I took that pic of the Spirit logo a few years ago. I have no problem with you using it, in fact, I think it's cool that you did!

Honestly, I think that whoever tried to cover up the Spirit logo did a rather poor job of it, and they should have just left it as is. If they can have the old Mad Dogs mascot walking around the ballpark, then why not keep the old Spirit logo? It's another part of Fraser Field history, after all!

Visitor map