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NECBL New England Collegiate Baseball League

NECBL Weekly Roundup

August 4, 2014 - New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) News Release


After nearly two months of regular season action that saw the Vermont Mountaineers claim their second divisional championship and the Plymouth Pilgrims complete one of the most impressive single-season turnarounds in the history of the league, the New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) postseason begins tonight as the last eight teams standing begin the hunt for the Fay Vincent Sr. Cup.

All contests will be broadcast live on the NECBL Broadcast Network in conjunction with Teamline.

As in recent seasons, the 2014 NECBL Championships will consist of three rounds and seven series, with each series played in a best-of-three format to determine the 2014 NECBL champion and recipient of the Fay Vincent Sr. Cup. Home-field advantage in the Divisional Semifinals will be awarded to the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds. In the Divisional Finals, home-field advantage will be awarded to the highest seed remaining. In the NECBL Championship Series, the team with the higher regular-season winning percentage will be awarded home-field advantage.

Series 1 (North Division Semifinal) - #1 Vermont vs. #4 Laconia

2014 Records: Vermont (27-15) | Laconia (20-22)

NECBL Championships: Vermont - 2 (2006, 07) | Laconia - 0

NECBL Finals Appearances: Vermont - 4 (2005, 06, 07, 09) | Laconia - 1 (2011)

Season Series: Vermont won, 4-2

Series Schedule

8/4/14 at Vermont 6:30 PM

8/5/14 at Laconia 6:30 PM

8/6/14 if necessary at Vermont 6:30 PM

Series 2 (North Division Semifinal) - #2 Sanford vs. #3 Keene

2014 Records: Sanford (24-18) | Keene (21-21)

NECBL Championships: Sanford - 2 (2004, 08) | Keene - 4 (2000, 03, 11, 13)

NECBL Finals Appearances: Sanford - 2 (2004, 08) | Keene - 6 (2000, 01, 02, 03, 11, 13)

Season Series: Keene won, 4-2

Series Schedule

8/4/14 at Sanford 6:30 PM

8/5/14 at Keene 6:30 PM

8/6/14 if necessary at Sanford 6:30 PM

Series 3 (South Division Semifinal) - #1 Plymouth vs. #4 Mystic

2014 Records: Plymouth (31-11) | Mystic (23-19)

NECBL Championships: Plymouth - 0 | Mystic - 1 (1994*)

NECBL Finals Appearances: Plymouth - 0 | Mystic - 0*

Season Series: Plymouth won, 5-1

* Won when franchise was the Eastern Tides from 1994 and championship was one in a points system, no series was held

Series Schedule

8/4/14 at Plymouth 6:30 PM

8/5/14 at Mystic 6:05 PM

8/6/14 if necessary at Plymouth 6:30 PM

Series 4 (South Division Semifinal) - #2 Newport vs. #3 Ocean State

2014 Records: Newport (25-17) | Ocean State (24-18)

NECBL Championships: Newport - 5 (2001, 02, 05, 09, 12) | Ocean State - 0

NECBL Finals Appearances: Newport - 10 (2000**, 01, 02, 04, 05, 07, 08, 09, 12, 13) | Ocean State - 0Season Series: Ocean State won, 4-2

** Appeared in 2000 NECBL Championship Series as Rhode Island Gulls

Series Schedule

8/4/14 at Newport 6:35 PM

8/5/14 at Ocean State 6:05 PM

8/6/14 if necessary at Newport 6:35 PM

For more information, click here!

Player of the Week

OF Colin Lyman

Sophomore | 6-0 | 160

Vermont Mountaineers

Louisville

At the dish, Lyman certainly made his case for the league's top performer last week. The Louisville rising sophomore torched the opposition by finishing 12-for-17 at the plate with a league-best .706 batting average. His versatility helped the Mountaineers win four more games as he contributed four runs, two doubles, one home run and four RBI while, most impressively finishing with six stolen bases in seven attempts, a mark that was second most in the league during that stretch.

Pitcher of the Week

RHP Brett Hanewich

Sophomore | 6-4 | 220

Newport Gulls

Stanford

Hanewich made sure his last regular season start was his most best, logging a seven-inning shutout against New Bedford on July 30 while striking out 10, walking one and surrendering just two hits. Those numbers produced a WHIP of 0.43, one of the top marks among starters last week, as his outing paced the Gulls to an 8-0 blowout win. On the year, the rising sophomore at Stanford has struck out 32 in just over 32 innings while walking only 12, and could figure into the Newport postseason rotation.

Honorable Mentions

JC Cardenas (North Adams/Barry) - Posted 10 hits and a .417 average while scoring seven runs and leading the league with three homers. Also drove in four runs and added a double and four RBI.

Robbie Coman (Keene/Virginia) - Batted .423 with an 11-for-26 clip while scoring four runs, drilling three doubles, one home run and plating five more runs.

Danny Garcia (Plymouth/Miami) - Enjoyed another fine start with eight strikeouts, two walks and one hit allowed over 6-2/3 innings to pick up a win.

Andrew Grant (Plymouth/Massachusetts) - Was solid over eight innings, fanning 10, wlaking one and yielded two runs on four hits to notch third win of the summer.

Jacob Henson (Laconia/St. Louis) - Ranked second in the league with a .588 batting average, going 10-for-17 with six runs, three doubles, two homers and eight RBI, the latter of which ranked third in the league last week.

John Kilichowski (Newport/Vanderbilt) - Made a strong case for Pitcher of the Week honors after fanning league-high 12 over seven scoreless innings with only two hits and three walks allowed to pick up a win.

Blaise Salter (Newport/Michigan State) - Wrapped up the year as the league's home run and RBI leader by driving in 10 more runs last week and launching one home run and four doubles to finish 13-for-29 (.448) at the plate.

Daniel Starwalt (Valley/Stanford) - Finished the year on a strong note, fanning six with no walks and one hit allowed over a dominant six innings.

Alex Vargas (Mystic/Monroe) - Dazzled over eight innings in a combined two appearances (one start), striking out four with one earned run allowed on a 1-0 week.

Vinny Zarrillo (Laconia/Rutgers) - Finished the week 10-for-22 (.455) with a homer and four RBI and finished the season with sixth-best average.

Player/Pitcher of the Week News Archive

Week 8: Hill (Mystic)/Ruse (Sanford)

Week 7: Ferreira (Ocean State)/Concato (Mystic)

Week 6: Rinn (Ocean State)/Davitt (New Bedford)

Week 5: Martinez (Laconia)/Houstin (Plymouth)

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

Week3: Amburgey (Vermont)/Knutson (Danbury)

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

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

2010 Gull Chris Taylor makes Major League debut

On July 24, 2014, infielder Chris Taylor made his Major League debut for the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field against the Baltimore Orioles. Taylor, who started at shortstop and batted ninth, recorded his first big league hit against Orioles pitcher Wei-Yin Chen in the fifth inning, officially becoming the eighth Newport Gull alumnus to play on a Major League Baseball team.

Taylor, who attended the University of Virginia, played in three games with the Newport Gulls in 2010. There, Taylor hit .364, hitting a double during his tenure with the Gulls. Taylor was the starting shortstop with the Virginia Cavaliers in his junior season, eventually getting drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the fifth round of the 2012 MLB Draft.

During his three seasons in the Mariners organization, Taylor enjoyed great success, being named a California League (A+) All-Star in 2013, and also being selected to play for the Pacific League (AAA) All-Star in 2014. He also tallied 165 hits between the High Desert Mavericks (A+) and Jackson Generals (AA) in 2013, which was eighth best across all of Minor League Baseball. Before getting called up by the Mariners, Taylor was hitting .328 with five home runs, 37 RBIs, and 63 runs scored.

Since getting called up to the Major Leagues, Taylor has played in four games, hitting .333 with two doubles and two RBIs. With his debut, Taylor became the eighth former Gull to play Major League Baseball, joining a group that includes Jason Szuminski, Chris Iannetta, Mitchell Boggs, Adam Wilk, Dan Otero, Jeff Beliveau, and Greg Garcia. He also joins Iannetta, Otero, and Beliveau as the only Gulls that are currently playing in the Majors.

Rocket Man! Westerner Burns Makes MLB Debut

Former Danbury Westerner outfielder Billy Burns made his Major League Baseball (MLB) debut last night for the Oakland Athletics. Burns pinch-hit against the Houston Astros.

With the promotion, Burns becomes the seventh NECBL alumnus to make his Major League debut in 2014. He is the 106th NECBL graduate to play in the Big Leagues and the 47th to suit up this season.

Burns is also the fourth NECBL graduate to play for Oakland this season. Owners of the best record in baseball, Oakland A's assistant GM David Forst also played in the NECBL.

Throughout his professional career, Burns has become best known for his blazing speed. He had 51 steals for Double-A Midland at the time of his promotion. In his brief Minor League career, Burns had swiped 176 bags in only 357 games. The Mercer University product also had an 89 percent career success rate in stealing bases. Burns also took a career .398 Minor League on-base percentage with him to Oakland.

The Marietta, Georgia native and Mercer graduate played for the Westerners in 2009. That summer, he finished tied for third on the team with 14 runs and led the Westerners with 16 stolen bases. H e becomes the 20th Danbury alum to reach the Majors.

The Nationals waited until the 32nd round to select Burns in the 2011 Draft, but he rewarded them two seasons later with a High-A Carolina League All-Star selection. He hit .315 that year and his 74 steals were third in all of Minor League baseball.

The NECBL congratulates Billy for this significant accomplishment.

RECAPPING THE 2014 NECBL ALL-STAR GAME

In a fitting end for the battle between the best the NECBL has to offer, the North Division All-Stars celebrated a walk-off, 4-3 victory in front of 2,671 fans at Mackenzie Stadium, home of the host Valley Blue Sox.

The North started off the scoring in the first frame, as Laconia's Vinny Zarillo led off with a single, reached third on an error, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Vermont's Trey Amburgey.

In the fourth, Amburgey singled to lead off the frame, followed by Mountaineers teammate Mike Vigliarolo and Laconia's Braxton Martinez singling as well to load the bases. Keene's Zach Lauricella hit into a 4-6-3 double play, but Amburgey came home.

In the sixth, the South erupted for three runs. With two away, Plymouth's Vincent Guglietti drew a walk, followed by an infield single by Newport's Nick Zammarelli. Ocean State's Ryan Blanton followed with a double to bring in Guglietti, and immediately after, teammate Drew Ferguson singled to plate both Zammarelli and Blanton.

However, trailing 3-2 in the bottom of the ninth, the North rallied. Blue Sox second baseman Angelo La Bruna hustled on a grounder to third, forcing an errant throw, and took second on a hit-and-run play. North Adams shortstop J.C. Cardenas doubled to right to score La Bruna to tie the game. After Sanford's Drake Parker walked, Keene's Jared Mederos singled, bringing home Cardenas and sending the North All-Stars into a celebratory frenzy.

Prior to the game, players from all twelve teams participated in skills competitions. Plymouth's Michael Martin was impressive in winning both the 60-Yard Dash with a time of 6.40 seconds as well as the Outfield Throwing Accuracy Competition, while Newport's Blaise Salter put on a show to win the Home Run Derby, hitting several balls well out of the cavernous Mackenzie Stadium.



New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from August 4, 2014


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