LaPrairie, Balducci Claim 2021 NECBL Fan Vote
July 16, 2021 - New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) News Release
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. - After accumulating the most votes in their respective divisions over the course of a hotly contested four-day period, Winnipesaukee outfielder Jake LaPrairie (Tulane) and Valley left-handed pitcher Antonio Balducci (Richmond) have been named the winners of the 2021 New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) All-Star Game Fan Vote, the league announced Friday morning.
LaPrairie, a rising sophomore at Tulane, and Balducci, a rising senior at Richmond, will both lace up for this Sunday's NECBL All-Star Game, which will be hosted by the Newport Gulls at Cardines Field, with festivities beginning at approximately 3 p.m. For more information on the NECBL All-Star Game, including an updates itinerary, head to http://asg21.necbl.com/!
Now in its sixth year, the NECBL Fan Vote gave the league's innumerous fans a chance for their voices to be heard; after the initial 29-player rosters were unveiled last Sunday for both the North and South Divisions, each team nominated one of their players not selected to the All-Star Game roster, and the recipient of the most votes from each division would be added to Sunday's roster.
The voting opened on Monday at midnight and ended Thursday night at midnight, giving fans exactly four days to cast their votes. Both Winnipesaukee and Valley claimed their first respective fan vote winners in what was the most popular turnout yet for fans of all 14 New England League organizations. Balducci led the league from wire-to-wire more than 900 total votes - nearly 400 more than the next-closest player in the South - while Winnipesaukee's fan base helped LaPrairie overcome a late deficit and emerge victorious with nearly 900 total votes.
Winnipesaukee (3) adds to its all-time lead in Fan Vote winners while Valley claims its first; the former New Bedford Bay Sox are the only other NECBL organization with multiple winners (2), while Keene, North Adams, Newport and Vermont have each won once.
A Lafayette, Louisiana, native, LaPrairie has been a regular in the Muskrats lineup, appearing in 19 games and has been a catalyst for the Winnipesaukee offense. The outfielder and rising sophomore at Tulane has scored 15 runs while batting .320 on the season (24-for-75), ranking among the league leaders in batting average. He has driven in 13 more thanks to four doubles and three homers and has added four stolen bases and recorded a .907 OPS to date. He batted .285 (43-for-151) with 33 runs scored, eight doubles, a homer and 26 RBIs this past spring for the Green Wave.
A Mechanicsville, Virginia, native, Balducci has been a valuable arm out of the bullpen for a Blue Sox squad that has been at or near the top of the South Division all summer. In seven appearances, the southpaw has recorded a 2.70 ERA to date with 15 strikeouts over 10 frames. More impressively, he has yielded only six hits and three walks in that span, good for a .167 batting average against and a 0.90 WHIP. The rising senior made 10 appearances for Richmond this past spring, fanning five over 6-2/3 innings while earning one win in his only decision.
The NECBL congratulates LaPrairie and Balducci, as well as the Winnipesaukee and Valley organizations, and thanks the thousands of fans who participated in this year's All-Star Game Fan Vote!
The New England Collegiate Baseball League is a wooden bat college summer league that fields teams in all six New England states. Partially funded by Major League Baseball, the New England League started play in 1994 and has sent over 150 alumni to the Major Leagues with nearly 30 alumni taken in the first round of the MLB Draft. For continuing coverage of the NECBL, visit NECBL.com and follow the league on Twitter, Instagram and on Facebook.
New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from July 16, 2021
- Upper Valley Pitchers Stifle Sanford in Loss - Sanford Mainers
- Twelve Gulls Selected in 2021 MLB Draft - Newport Gulls
- LaPrairie, Balducci Claim 2021 NECBL Fan Vote - NECBL
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