Gulls Look to Repeat vs. West Champ Swamp Bats
August 11, 2013 - New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) News Release
The NECBL finals open tonight, with two familiar teams facing off against each other. The battle for the 2013 Fay Vincent Sr. Cup features the award's last two winners.
The defending champion Newport Gulls aim for their record sixth NECBL title. It will be their ninth appearance in the League Finals. The Gulls swept their first two rounds of this summer's playoffs.
The Keene Swamp Bats, the 2011 NECBL champs and the #1-seed in the West, needed a 10th inning single in Game Three of the Divisional Finals to reach the title game, but they bring a formidable combo of hitting and pitching.
#1-Keene (31-19) vs. #1-East Newport (34-14)
Season Series: Split 1 game to 1
How they Got Here: The Gulls' balance was extraordinary. Their 2.18 team ERA led the NECBL and the pitching staff ranked second in strikeouts and WHIP. Offensively, 1B Steve Anderson led the NECBL in RBI; Anderson, SS Trace Tam Sing and OF Ben Roberts all won NECBL Player of the Week with Roberts and Tam Sing ranking first and second in the NECBL in doubles respectively.
Keene dropped their first game 14-1, and were a ghastly 3-11 at one point before winning 24 of their final 30 regular season games. OF JP Sportman ranked in the NECBL's top four in average (.340), doubles (13) and RBI (31). Keene did have "Batitude" as OF Brian O'Grady, INF Zach Lucas and OF Zach Lauricella all placed in the top dozen in the NECBL in homers. Lefty Nathan Kirby had a 1.67 ERA and 60 strikeouts while RHP Brian Hunter (1.88 ERA) clinched a Pitcher of the Week.
Playoffs: Newport swept Sanford 11-4 and 4-0 in the first round, then best inter-state rival Mystic in the Division Finals. The Gulls have allowed just one run in their last three playoff games. Big infielder Brett Winger is picking a good time to get hot: he is hitting .500 with four RBI during the post-season.
Keene had to go to three games to win each of their series, but put 16 runs up against Holyoke in Game Three of the Divisional semi-finals and O'Grady's walk-off single in the 10th gave them the "W" in the Division finals against Vermont. Lucas and INF Robbie Cafiero are both hitting over .420 with a combined nine RBI in the playoffs.
Schedule: Game 1- Sunday August 11th, 6:35 at Newport
Game 2- Monday August 12th, 6:30 at Keene
Game 3- Tuesday August 13th 6: 35 at Newport (if necessary)
New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from August 11, 2013
- Swamp Bats Blanked in Game One - Keene Swamp Bats
- Gulls Look to Repeat vs. West Champ Swamp Bats - NECBL
- OâÃâ¬Ãâ¢GradyâÃâ¬Ãâ¢s Walk-off Defeats Vermont 9-8 - Keene Swamp Bats
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