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Mountaineers End Historic Season with Loss to Sharks in NECBL Finals

August 7, 2022 - New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL)
Vermont Mountaineers News Release


The Vermont Mountaineers lost a nail-biter by a score of 7-6 to the Martha's Vineyard Sharks In game two of the NECBL Championship Series at the Shark Tank, ending what was nothing short of a historic season, on Saturday.

Vermont traveled to the Vineyard with their backs against the wall, after losing game one of the championship series to the Sharks by a score of 16-3. Game two was a very different story. The two teams battled each other all night long.

Vermont took its first lead of the series in the third inning, taking a 1-0 lead over the Vineyard in the early parts of the game. Shane Lussier was the first Vermont runner to cross the plate in the third inning on a ground out by Nic Notarangelo.

Just when Vermont felt some momentum swing their way, the Sharks responded with three runs of their own in the bottom of the third to take the short-lived lead away from the Mountaineers.

Vermont found almost all the offense in the following innings. The Mountaineers would bring in two runs in the fourth and two runs in the fifth as well. But thanks to two runs by the Vineyard in the fourth, the game was knotted at five from the top of the fifth until the top of the eighth.

A single from Christian Pregent off of Vineyards pitcher Alejandro Torres in the top of the eighth broke the tie and put Vermont up 6-5, and sent the Vermont dugout into an electric wave of excitement.

Once again though the lead would not hold for long. In the bottom of the eighth Logan Chambers blasted a two-run home run over the right-center field wall to put the Sharks back on top, 7-6, and left the Mountaineers with three outs to play with to keep their season alive.

Vermont would be unsuccessful as all three batters were retired in order, giving Martha's Vineyard their first NECBL title in program history.

James McDowell was dealt the loss for the evening, recording three strikeouts through two innings while allowing two runs on two hits.

For the Sharks it was Cam Hill who got the win, going two innings with one strikeout and only allowing one run on one hit.

Despite the season coming to an end, this season will go down in the history books for the Vermont team. The Mountaineers tied the all time NECBL regular season record, won the governor's cup, had only two losses in the entire month of June, had two players (Adam Retzbach, and Carlos Torres) get drafted to the MLB, sent six players, and the entire coaching staff to the all-star game went to the Championship series as the number one seed in the league and so much more. This season will be one to remember for players, fans, coaches, and anyone who was around this group.

We would also like to take this opportunity to thank those who were involved this season and made all of this possible. This includes host families, volunteers, fans, local restaurants and businesses, sponsors, and the league as a whole. Without the help from every one of you, we would not have the opportunities or success levels that we do.

For now, Mountaineers baseball has come to a pause. But certainly not an end. We are already very excited for the 2023 season and hope to see you at Recreation Field next June!

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New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from August 7, 2022


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