Gulls Troy Dixon Wins NECBL MVP
August 16, 2016 - New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL)
Newport Gulls News Release
Gulls Troy Dixon Wins NECBL MVP
(Newport Gulls, Credit: Newport Gulls Media-Jon Dillworth)
NEWPORT, R.I. - It was a cool night in mid-June, but three Newport Gulls showed they were red-hot in a memorable, walk-off victory in extra innings at Cardines Field. All three stayed hot throughout the summer, and now will take home three of the league's top awards, including the league MVP, Rookie of the Year, and Defensive Player of the Year titles, the New England Collegiate Baseball League announced today.
That June 17 contest vs. the New Bedford Bay Sox, won 5-1 in the 11th inning on a walk-off grand slam - a first for a franchise that has (almost) seen it all over 16 successful seasons in Newport - put all three Gulls on the league's radar early in the season.
Troy Dixon, announced today by Commissioner Sean McGrath as the NECBL Rick Ligi Most Valuable Player, was playing his second game of the season in that June 17 contest, and making his debut at home. The catcher went 2-for-5 at the plate with a double that night - the first of 15 doubles, which was tied for most in the NECBL in 2016 - and never looked back, collecting 14 multi-hit games in the regular season, including seven multi-hit games in a row in late July when the team was fighting for a playoff spot, en route to a .371 batting average and the NECBL Batting Title. In two playoff games, Dixon was an incredible 5-for-5 with four walks, four runs scored, two RBI, a stolen base, and a double.
NECBL Rookie of the Year Stephen Scott - the hero of that contest on June 17, going 3-for-6 at the plate with an historic walk-off grand slam in the 11th - was a fan-favorite in Newport this summer, powering 13 total home runs, including two in the playoffs and one in the NECBL All-Star Game at Cardines Field. The right fielder's 10 regular-season homers was tied for second best in the league, and his 32 regular-season RBI (he added five more in the playoffs) led the team and was good for third in the NECBL.
Shortstop Connor Kaiser made his Newport debut in that June 17 game - having arrived earlier that same day - by pinch hitting in the ninth, where he was hit by a pitch. He came back in the 11th with a single in his first official at-bat as a Gull, setting up the grand slam off the bat of Scott, his college teammate at Vanderbilt. But it was Kaiser's glove that earned him 2016's NECBL Defensive Player of the Year, where he owned a league-best .986 fielding percentage at short, committing just two errors in 35 games while turning 16 double plays.
Dixon, also named First Team All-NECBL at catcher, hails from Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey, and St. John's University. A 2016 draft prospect, he began the summer without a baseball home after going undrafted following his junior season, but an early-season injury on the Gulls roster to catcher Charlie Carpenter convinced General Manager Chuck Paiva to find another backstop in mid-June.
"He immediately became an impact player and a leader behind the plate," Paiva said, "he was a great teammate and really competed for the Gulls."
Immediately following the Carpenter injury, Paiva researched Dixon - who had left Paiva a voice message looking for a roster spot earlier that afternoon - and promptly signed him to a contract that night, bringing him to Newport the next day. The end result was Newport's fifth league MVP selection since 2001 - Dixon joins Chris Stanton (2004), Cyle Hankerd (2005), Jim Murphy (2006), and 2014's Blaise Salter in the exclusive club.
Stanton (.405), Hankerd (.383), and Murphy (.358) were all each their respective seasons' batting champions, as well; Mike Tamsin hit .417 in 2008, and Jeff Melillo batted .404 in 2012.
Director of Baseball Operations Nick Lima also held Dixon in high regard, for his traits both on and off the field.
"Troy is a special kind of player who sparked numerous rallies for the Gulls this season and brought a lot of excitement to the field," Lima said. "But what I'll remember most about Troy is how he went out of his way to say hello to me every single day when I walked by the dugout, the team bus, or wherever we happened to be - he's truly one of the nicest gentlemen we've ever had in Newport, and it's great to see a player of his caliber take home the league's top honor."
Dixon put up remarkable statistics, including a team-best .446 home batting average in 17 regular-season games at Cardines. In 34 games, he collected 49 hits with two homers, 18 RBI, and 25 runs scored to go along with 12 walks and a .432 on-base percentage. He hit .524 over the team's 10-game stretch to end the regular season before his 5-for-5 performance in the playoffs, and he was 19-for-31 (.613) with nine RBI in a seven-game stretch from July 19-27.
While Dixon had plenty of great competition in the NECBL MVP voting, some likely came from his own teammate in Scott, who was named Second Team All-NECBL alongside his Rookie of the Year award.
"I had heard from a couple of scouts that the best freshman hitter on Vanderbilt was Stephen Scott," Paiva said. "Although he did not get as many at bats at Vanderbilt, he certainly lived up to the hype here in Newport. Stephen had a strong, compact and powerful swing from the left side. The more at bats he got, he became more confident - and dangerous."
Scott, of Cary, North Carolina, appeared in 42 - and started 41 - of Newport's 44 regular-season games, more than any other player, batting .285 with 10 homers, 11 doubles, and a triple, good for second in the NECBL in extra-base hits. He was third in the league in total bases with 86, fifth in runs scored with 29, and led the team both with 27 walks and a .570 slugging percentage.
His most impressive stretch of the season came in the run-up to the NECBL All-Star Game, where he homered four times with eight RBI in three games leading up to the contest - all after his selection to the Southern Division squad - in total hitting six homers and driving in 12 over seven regular-season games.
Four Gulls have previously won the league's Rookie of the Year award, including Drew Poulk (2007), Chase Reid (2008), Kenny Diekroeger (2010), and 2012's Yale Rosen.
Kaiser, meanwhile, was a sensational shortstop in Newport, and arguable the best in the NECBL in 2016. The 6-foot-4 Commodore from Overland Park, Kansas will be heading into his sophomore season for Vanderbilt next year, after hitting .218 with two homers, 12 RBI, four doubles and 19 walks in 35 games with Newport this summer. In five postseason games, Kaiser was clutch, batting .267 with a home run and four RBI.
"I heard when I recruited him that he was a great defensive player with big-league potential," Paiva said about Kaiser. "He ended up winning the starting shortstop job at Vanderbilt as a freshman and never looked back. He makes all the plays look easy, and he is so consistent - the recipe for a big-league career."
Kaiser brings home Defensive Player of the Year honors for the Gulls for the sixth time in franchise history. Raphael Lara won the title twice - in 2000 as a Rhode Island Gull and again in 2002 in Newport. Future Major Leaguer Baseball catcher Chris Iannetta won in 2003; Brendan Kelliher won in 2010 and Tommy Edman in 2014.
Two more Gulls were honored by the league office's announcement today. Left-handed pitcher Hunter Schryver, who struck out 11 Danbury Westerners, allowing one earned run over seven innings in his Game One playoff victory, was named First Team All-NECBL.
The Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania native out of Villanova played in his second season with Newport this summer, and his third in the league, after pitching for the Ocean State Waves in 2014. Owning a 5-1 regular-season record in 2016, he was tied for third in in the NECBL in wins and finished second in the league with a 1.75 ERA, allowing just 23 hits in 36 innings of work over eight games, five of them starts. Opponents hit .180 vs. Schryver, who struck out 38 to just 13 walks and seven earned runs allowed.
Cole Fabio was named Second Team All-NECBL at second base. Fabio made 27 starts at second, where he owned a .974 fielding percentage, committing only three errors to 14 double plays turned. Overall, he started all 36 contests he played for the Gulls in the regular season, including games at shortstop and in the outfield, hitting .277 with a home run, six doubles, a triple, and 21 RBI, many of them as Newport's lead-off hitter.
The senior out of Bryant University and Mahwah, New Jersey led the Gulls on the road, with a team-best .311 average in 17 games away from Cardines Field. He was dangerous around the bases, stealing 14 bags in 17 attempts, far and away the best on the team. Overall, he picked up 20 runs scored, 14 walks, and a .341 OBP to go along with 43 hits in helping the Gulls secure their 16th consecutive playoff berth and 25-win season since 2001.
Images from this story
 Gulls Troy Dixon Wins NECBL MVP (Newport Gulls Media-Jon Dillworth) |
• Discuss this story on the New England Collegiate Baseball League message board...
New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from August 16, 2016
- Gulls Troy Dixon Wins NECBL MVP - Newport Gulls
- NECBL Unveils 2016 Awards and Honors - NECBL
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
