NECBL Playoffs Start Sunday
Published on August 4, 2013 under New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) News Release
The NECBL playoffs start today, Sunday August 4th. There are three rounds of playoffs, each round being a best of three.
The Newport Gulls are the defending NECBL champions. They clinched a #1-seed in the Eastern Division. While the Gulls are a familiar name, the #2-seed Ocean State Waves find themselves in the post-season in their very first year in the NECBL.
No team was hotter in the second half of the season than the Keene Swamp Bats; no team was hotter in the first half than the Vermont Mountaineers. These two interstate rivals clinched the first and second seeds respectively in the Western Division.
Divisional finals will take place August 7th through 9th. The League finals take place August 10th through 12th.
Here is a scouting report on the first round:
Eastern Division
#4 Sanford (22-23) at #1 Newport (30-14)
Season Series: Newport won 3-2
How they got here: Pitching, pitching, pitching. Gulls' hurlers posted a 2.18 ERA, by far the best in the NECBL. That, plus 1B Steve Anderson, SS Trace Tam Sing and OF Ben Roberts have all won the Player of the Week at some point this season.
Sanford won their third in a row, beating Laconia 4-2 in a play-in game. The Mainers get on base, having the fourth best OBP in the NECBL, and with 52 strikeouts in 28.2 innings, LHP Steven Rice is their ridonkulous shutdown closer
Who is hot: Newport RHP Mick Van Vossen beat Sanford 4-1 on August 1st by fanning nine and allowing just two hits in 7.2 innings...Tam Sing has hit .429 with seven doubles and three steals in his last 10 games...Maine native Scott Heath is hitting .333 for Sanford over his last seven games while Mainer INF Nic Wilson has clubbed three homers and driven in nine over the last nine contests. Wilson won the NECBL Home Run Derby. Sanford pitchers Eric Hill, Travis Landry and John Bourque have thrown 15 shutout innings in the last week
#3 Mystic (22-22) at #2 Ocean State (24-20)
Season Series: Ocean State won 4-2
How they got here: Ocean State won their first ever game 14-1 and they haven't stopped hitting since. The team was 3rd in the NECBL in runs scored, second in homers and second in slugging percentage.
Mystic OF Brandon Cipolla and C Tyler Boyd provided plenty of pop, combining for 12 homers and 45 RBI, but the Schooners also played small ball, drawing the second most walks in the League. RHPs Alex Gouin (1.11 ERA) and Conor Gleason (4 saves) give them two bedrocks to close games
Who is hot: Mystic OF Nico Darras is hitting .480 with four RBI in his last six games....Ocean State OF Evan Ocello has nine hits in his last 20 at-bats and has four steals in his last give games. In his last four games, Mystic LHP Orlando Gonzalez III has allowed just two hits in seven shutout innings. Waves closer Oliver Powers has not allowed a run since June 26th, a stretch of 14 scoreless innings.
Western Division
#4 Holyoke (22-23) at #1 Keene (27-17)
Season Series: Split 3 games to 3
How they got here: At one point late in June, Keene had the worst record in the NECBL before roaring to win 17 of 19. The Swamp Bats led the league in homers and slugging percentage. They can also turn out two starters (Nathan Kirby and Brian Hunter) with sub-2.00 ERAs
Holyoke beat Saratoga in a play-in game. They can counter with Michael Burke, the NECBL's ERA champ (0.55) and reigning Pitcher of the Week Jordan Kutzer. 3B Brendan Hendriks's .342 average was second best in the NECBL
Who is hot: Keene 3B Robbie Cafiero is the reigning player of the week, having hit .556 with four extra base hits in his last five games. Swamp Bat LHP Nathan Kirby was brilliant in his last start, throwing 7.1 shutout innings and striking out seven.
Kutzer threw a three-hit shutout against North Adams on July 31st. Burke fanned 12 in his last start, getting a tough luck loss despite yielding just one run.
#3 North Adams (22-22) at #2 Vermont (24-20)
Season Series: Split 3 games to 3
How they got here: Vermont's 13 wins in June led the NECBL. Their July was not as strong but P John Miles (1.20 ERA) and OF Chandler Brock (.339 average) have been as good as any this summer. Mountaineer hurlers led the NECBL in WHIP.
North Adams brings the NECBL's batting champ (2B Joe Landi- .348 average) and strikeout leader (LHP Scott Squier- 70Ks) to the table. Cat pitchers had the fourth best WHIP in the NECBL.
Who is hot: Mountaineer OF Chandler Brock joins Cafiero as the reigning co-Player of the Week. Brock has hit .565 with nine runs scored in his last six games. Cat 2B Landi has hit .417 in his last 16 games, collecting a base hit in 14 of them. Cat southpaw Trevor Scott fired a complete game, four-hit shutout against Saratoga on August 2nd; the Mountaineers have their own hot lefty in Cody Brown, who has yielded just one run and four hits in his last nine innings.
New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from August 4, 2013
- Late Hitting And Sportman's Heroics Give Keene 5-4 Victory - Keene Swamp Bats
- Gulls Take 1-0 Series Lead with 11-4 Win vs. Sanford - Newport Gulls
- Three-Run Sixth Powers Mountaineers to Game 1 Win, 4-1, Sunday Night - North Adams SteepleCats
- NECBL Playoffs Start Sunday - NECBL
- Mainers Are in the Playoffs - Sanford Mainers
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