NECBL Weekly Roundup

Published on July 7, 2014 under New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) News Release

Player of the Week

3B Braxton Martinez

Junior | 6-3 | 225

Laconia Muskrats

St. Louis

Martinez was brilliant in a limited amount of plate appearances last week. Not to anyone's fault, Martinez and the Muskrats battled the elements in a rain-shortened week of play, totaling only 17 at-bats over four games. But in that small sample size, he dazzled, smashing a league-high 11 hits with one double, two homers and four RBI while batting a league-best .647 (11-for-17) in that span. He tallied seven runs scored, walked twice, was 2-for-2 on the base paths and .647 / .684 / .1059 slash line to boost his OPS to a staggering 1.743.

Pitcher of the Week

RHP Zac Houston

Junior | 6-6 | 225

Plymouth Pilgrims

Mississippi State

The rising sophomore Houston right-hander made three relief appearances last week and dominated; in five scoreless innings, he fanned a league-high 10 batters while yielding no hits and just four walks. He picked up a win in that span while posting a 0.80 WHIP.

Honorable Mentions

Vincent Aiello (Plymouth/Rider) - Ranked second in the league with nine strikeouts in just six innings.

Nathan Bates (Ocean State) - Remained perfect on the season by making three appearances - one start - and picking up two more wins to improve to 4-0 (leading league with four wins). Struck out nine, walked two and posted a 1.93 ERA over 9.1 innings.

Colton Bottomley (Laconia/Florida Gulf Coast) - Boasted a league-best eight RBI with a .579 average (11-for-19), a homer, three runs and a stolen base.

James Bunn (Plymouth/VCU) - Finished 11-for-25 (.440) at the plate with a double, five runs scored and two stolen bases in five games.

Ryan Davis (Vermont/Le Moyne) - Enjoyed another stellar start, going eight scoreless innings with four strikeouts, two walks and two hits allowed in a winning effort.

Michael Gilbert (New Bedford/Southern Mississippi) - Batted over .400 with a 7-for-17 clip; also scored three runs, roped three doubles, drove in five more runs with just one strikeout.

Christian Lavoie (Sanford/UMass Lowell) - Posted a seven-inning shutout in a no decision last week, striking out four, walking one and scattering two hits in an eventual Sanford win.

Max Knutson (Danbury/Nebraska) - Tossed eight scoreless inning in his only start of the week, fanning three, walking none while working around 10 hits in a no decision.

Stephen Laurino (Mystic/Marist) - Ranked second in the league with a .600 average, finishing 9-for-15 with three runs, two doubles, two RBI and just one strikeout.

Blaise Salter (Newport/Michigan State) - Led the league with three homers while driving in six runs; also finished with a double, a .318 average (7-for-22) and scored three runs.

Player/Pitcher of the Week News Archive

Week 4: Martin (Plymouth)/Fossas (Plymouth)

Week3: Amburgey (Vermont)/Knutson (Danbury)

Week 2: Sikes (Valley)/Van Vossen (Newport)

Week 1: Guglietti (Plymouth)/Davis (Vermont)

Thank you to the teams who provided this week's information!

LACONIA

The Laconia Muskrats enter the upcoming week on a two-game winning streak. Braxton Martinez's (St. Louis Univ) performance at the plate has sparked up as of late as he is homered in each of the past two Muskrats games. In Saturday's contest against Vermont, RHP Jack English (Florida Gulf Coast Univ) pitched seven scoreless innings against the Mountaineers, and gave up only three hits.

NEW BEDFORD

The Bay Sox had one of their more successful weeks this week in NECBL action, picking up back to back wins taking down Laconia as well as the then first place Newport Gulls. New Bedford is now 4-18 on the year and will look to improve this coming week as the games continue to pile on. Spencer Herrmann (Fisher College): 7 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 5 BB's and 7 K's versus Newport. Michael Gilbert (Southern Mississippi): Raised his average .142 points this week as he heated up, going from .095 to .237. David MacKinnon (Hartford): MacKinnon continues to hit well, finishing the week with a .359 batting average, the best average on the Bay Sox

SANFORD

The Mainers have won their last five games and 9 of their last 10 en-route to a tie for first place in the Northern Division at a 13-8 record. The Moose pitchers have limited the competition in 6-4 wins over Danbury, 1-0 win with a walk off doulble over Valley and a 5-1 victory at North Adams to move to 5-0 versus the SteepleCats. Rich Vrana dropped his already stellar ERA of 0.64 to 0.50, Cory Raley and Kendall Patrick (leads the league in hit-by-pitch at 9) continue to come up big offensively both launching their first homers of the season this week and Jon Chudy, Cam Hatch. Tyler Barss have all been solid with a sub-2.00 ERA coming out of the bullpen. Christian Lavoie held Valley scoreless through seven innings while completing 4 strikeouts moving his ERA to 1.39 on the season. The Mainers 4th match-up at Valley was rained out so they put up their own fireworks on July 5th at North Adams with 5 runs on 12 hits and short-stop Cory Raley going 3-for-5 and a home run shy of the cycle. 4 different players drove in at-least one RBI for the Moose as Caden Bailey plated his 9th RBI of the season, Matt Pagano his 7th RBI, and Matt Harris his 3rd on the way to a 5-1 win moving to a 13-8 record. Solid pitching and timely hitting have been the keys to success half-way through the season.

VERMONT

The Vermont Mountaineers only played three games this past week, given the poor weather in the New England area. The Mountaineers played to a 1-2 record, losing to Keene (3-2) on Tuesday night and Laconia (11-0) on Saturday night before defeating the Mystic Schooners (3-0) at Recreation Field on Sunday night. The Mountaineers struggled offensively during the week, hitting to a team average of .152. Vermont currently sits tied for first place in the Northern Division with the Sanford Mainers, as each team stands at 13-8 in 2014. Blake Tiberi (Louisville) 3B - Tiberi hit .455 on the week, bashing two homeruns and picking up three RBIs. The third baseman led the team in both categories. Ryan Davis (Le Moyne) LHP - Davis was stellar in his lone start of the week on Sunday night. The southpaw dealt eight scoreless innings and took the win in Vermont's 3-0 defeat of Mystic. Davis allowed just two hits and two walks. He struck out four. Opponents hit .077 against him. The Mountaineers have a busy week ahead, playing four home games and two road games through Saturday night. The team has Sunday and Monday off.

The 21st annual NECBL All-Star game will be held on Sunday, July 20, at MacKenzie Stadium in Holyoke, Massachusetts. Hosted by the Valley Blue Sox, the NECBL All-Star game showcases the NECBL's top student-athletes in a fun-filled afternoon and evening of baseball splendor.

While first pitch is slated for just after 5 p.m., the festivities start earlier in the afternoon, as our participants partake in a variety of skills competitions to showcase their talents in front of scouts from virtually every Major League team. Join us for batting practice, an outfield throwing accuracy test, the 60-yard dash competition, and of course, the Home Run Derby all afternoon long.

New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from July 7, 2014

• Schooners Rally Past Gulls, 12-2 - Newport Gulls
• Schooners Rally Past Gulls, 12-2 - Newport Gulls
• Mainers win 1-0 in rain shortened game against Danbury - Sanford Mainers
• NECBL Weekly Roundup - NECBL
• Mountaineers Announce Make-Up Game - Vermont Mountaineers

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