NECBL New England Collegiate Baseball League

Collins Leads Parade of NECBL Records; Roy Hits Milestone

August 2, 2012 - New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) News Release


Laconia 3B Danny Collins leaves New England as the NECBL's new single season leader in home runs, slugging percentage, extra base hits and total bases. Collins' outstanding year highlighted an offensive-dominated summer in which many records fell.

Vermont infielder Rob Kelly bested the NECBL's single season RBI record once his summer was complete. New Bedford 3B Zach Stone re-set the record for runs scored while Newport C Jeff Melillo created a new standard for on base percentage.

In addition to setting a new record for stolen base percentage, North Adams OF Jeff Roy established a rare speed/power milestone by becoming the first NECBL player to steal 20 bases and hit 11 doubles in one summer.

Not all records were offensive-based. North Adams LHP Matt Longfield set the new pitcher's record for appearances in a summer.

On Opening Day, the NECBL single season home run record stood at 14. It was set in 1998, ironically 14 seasons ago, by Gil Barkman and Aaron Fera.

But on July 20th, Collins belted his 15th home run of the summer, in a 6-4 extra inning loss to the Danbury Westerners. Collins ultimately hit four more dingers to establish the new single season NECBL home run record at 19. His output also helped Laconia tie for a new team home run record. Both the 2012 Muskrats and 2012 Keene Swamp Bats slammed 73 home runs this summer, a new NECBL mark.

Collins' 29 extra base hits and 115 total bases break marks held by former Red Sock Mark Malaska, who set them for Danbury in 1998. Collins' .818 slugging percentage bested the record held since 2005 by White Sox farmhand Cyle Hankerd.

Needless to say Collins, a redshirt sophomore at Troy from Niceville on the Florida Panhandle, racked up all kinds of accolades in the process. He twice won the NECBL's Player of the Week, for the period ending June 15th and for the week ending July 14th.

Collins belted a homer on Opening Day, a 6-4 Laconia win over Sanford. Yet through the Muskrats' first 15 games, Collins had slugged just four. He went through a homer-less spell from June 20th through June 27th before popping a dinger against New Bedford on June 28th, slugging one again the next night against Mystic and then having two multi-homer games in the next four contests.

He homered in three straight contests in mid July, and never went more than six games without a four-bagger. Collins' long balls victimized all but two teams this summer.

For more on Collins, the Eastern Division's starting All-Star third baseman, please see the following link:

http://necbl.com/view/necbl/news/news_51908

Kelly's 45 RBI break a two-year old record of 42, held by Effrey Valdez. Kelly had a 6-RBI game against Laconia on July 15th and a 5-RBI game against Danbury on June 11th. A model of consistency, Kelly closed the summer with at least one RBI in 14 of his final 17 games.

A junior from Aurora, CO who attends St. Anselm's, Kelly won his team's Triple Crown with a .310/10/51 stat line this spring.

Stone finished the summer with a .374/4/32 stat line, ranking third in the NECBL in hitting. More importantly, sophomore Stone's 45 runs established a new record and broke Jason Maule's 1997 mark of 42. In 18 games from July 7th to July 29th, Stone scored a remarkable 22 times. It helped that he hit .444 during the span, giving himself ample opportunities to get on base. Stone plated at least one run in eight straight contests in late June.

In 2012, Stone led Millersville in homers and RBI. As a freshman Gold Glove winner, Stone led the PSAC in RBI while ranking fifth in the conference in hits.

Melillo's brother Mike won an NECBL title and an All-Star Game MVP in two seasons with Newport, raising the family bar. But Jeff exceeded it. A Johnny Bench Award finalist, Jeff Melillo hit .322 with 10 doubles and 30 RBI this past spring at Rutgers.

Jeff Melillo's .404 average led the NECBL, yet he also drew 26 walks in 28 games. Melillo failed to reach base just once all summer, and he compiled 13 games where he reached base at least three times. Melillo's .548 on base percentage is 22 points higher than Mike Tamsin's, the previous record holder, in 2008.

Roy won the Atlantic-10's Player of the Year Award in 2012, leading the A-10 in hits, runs and triples while hitting .421 in conference play. Only two other NECBL players, none since 2004 League MVP Chris Stanton, had a combination of 10 doubles and 20 steals in a summer; no NECBL'er who stole 20 bags ever had an 11th double until Roy swatted one on July 29th.

The NECBL's steals champion, lefty Roy finishes the year with 24 swipes, a .333 batting average and a .458 slugging percentage. He stole two bases on the season's final game to capture the crown. Roy was caught stealing just once. His .960 steal percentage breaks the 2001 mark of .929 held by Cy Hess. For more on Roy, please see the following link:

http://necbl.com/view/necbl/news/news_51739

Some one needed to retire these hot hitters and few did it better than North Adams lefty Matt Longfield. His 28 games broke the record of 26, set by Vermont's A.J. Balsinde in 2008. The winner of the NECBL's Pitcher of the Week for July 15th, Longfield went 5-1 with a 1.69 ERA and 39 strikeouts in 26.2 innings. Longfield struck out 21 of the 49 batters he faced in a 10 appearance stretch in late July.

A 6'5" lefty, Longfield struck out 20 in 12.2 innings for Villanova in 2012.

The NECBL congratulates Danny, Rob, Zach, Jeff, Jeff and Matt on their milestone seasons.



New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from August 2, 2012


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