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NECBL New England Collegiate Baseball League

Team USA Tours Through NECBL

July 1, 2011 - New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) News Release


Most baseball fans have sung, "Root, root, root for the home team" more times than they can count.

And there may not be a Team more symbolic of "Home" than Team USA.

From June 23rd to June 29th, the USA Collegiate National Team (CNT) barnstormed through the NECBL. While Team USA won the five exhibitions that they played against individual NECBL squads, Team NECBL claimed a dramatic 3-2 victory over the CNT on June 27th at Fenway Park.

Beating Team USA at arguably the nation's most historic baseball venue instantly became one of the marquee highlights of the NEBCL's 17 season history.

Interestingly, this most National of teams has many NECBL ties.

Two Team USA members, pitchers Mark Appel and Brandon Kline, both played for the 2010 Newport Gulls. (Note: Kline did not participate in the New England tour because of his involvement in the College World Series)

"Just all of the friendships I made last summer," Appel responded when asked about his summer in Newport. "I stay in touch with a bunch of those guys. That's probably one of the coolest experiences.

"As far as my performance, I learned so much about myself. About my ability to fix things during the game that I noticed were going wrong. If I'm throwing off on my fastball, to kind of get back on the right track. I feel like I had to learn all of that because I didn't have my usual coaches to talk to. I didn't have my Dad to talk to. It was a good experience being on my own for a summer."

Appel, a 6'5" Stanford Cardinal, ranked sixth in the NECBL in ERA last season. Drafted by the Tigers in the 15th round out of high school, Appel was named the NECBL's 2010 Top Pro Prospect.

"With the NECBL, with the bus rides and fields, it's going to be a lot like Minor League baseball," Appel assessed, "so having that experience before the Draft or whatever comes by with my career is pretty important."

This spring, Appel posted a 3:1 strikeout/walk ratio while leading the Cardinal in starts.

"Towards the end of the spring," Appel recalled, "our pitching coach said 'I've been in contact with Team USA. They just want to see you have a few more starts. They're looking for strike throwers.' I thought it would be a cool experience to play with them. Obviously, I'm going to do the best I can on the field every time out. God just blessed me with the opportunity to come here and play with Team USA."

One of Appel's Team USA battery mates was Kennesaw State's Ronnie Freeman. Freeman joined Team USA as an alternate from Holyoke, where he slugged .581 in eight games as a Blue Sock.

Team USA kicked off the tour the morning of the 24th with a 7-0 blanking of the Swamp Bats at Keene. The game was originally slated for the 23rd, but rain pushed the start time to the next day.

"We all met up in Keene to play the Swamp Bats, but there was a little rain," described Appel. "So staying indoors and going through that whole experience- we had to mesh really quickly. It's a really cool group of guys. I've been real surprised at how much fun our team is."

The Keene-Team USA game also marked one of the strangest days in catcher David Lyon's baseball life. The Kent State backstop played in five games for Keene this summer, hitting .364.

Kent State head coach Scott Stricklin is an assistant for Team USA.

"Coach Stricklin told me he put my name in as an alternate, just in case something happened," Lyon remembered. "If a couple of people got drafted or something like that. I didn't really think anything of it. Then a week into Keene's season, I got a text from Coach Stricklin that said to call Coach Campbell ASAP."

Eric Campbell is the Director of the CNT. "I called Mr. Campbell and he said he wanted me to come on as an alternate, to see what I could do, and maybe make the final roster."

Lyon continued, "He said, 'Meet us in Keene when we get there.' I was on the Swamp Bats playing in that game for Keene. After the game, I left on the bus for Team USA so that was kind of weird."

It's pretty unconventional to suit up for one team and leave with their opponent, but Lyon is grateful for the extraordinary opportunity. "It's really special," he said. "It's pretty cool being with all of this talent. I'm one of the older players and with all of the young kids, just knowing that they're going to grow and get better is a real special feeling.

"Obviously, they have God-given talent," he noted when asked about what sets the players on Team USA apart. "A couple of outfielders have unreal arms that I have never seen before. Work ethic obviously, and they're able to make adjustments really easily too. If the coaching staff says 'Try this,' they can do it and see the results almost immediately."

Lyon and his teammates took the bus from Keene to Mystic, where Team USA bested the Schooners 5-2. Mystic's David Perkins (Duke) belted a two run homer. The clout, combined with starter Colin O'Keefe's (Virginia Tech) five innings of shutout, one-hit ball gave Mystic a 2-0 lead through five.

But Team USA rallied; Appel threw a perfect 1.1 innings of relief to get the save.

Team USA's June 25th game at Holyoke was rained out; from there, Team USA Navigated their way to North Shore where they beat the Navs 4-1. LF Eric Jagielo (Notre Dame) and RF Matt McGovern (Boston College) combined for five hits, two of them doubles, for North Shore while starter Crayton Bare (Baylor) surrendered just one run in five innings to the CNT.

It set up the marquee game of the tour: the clash at Fenway between Team USA and Team NECBL.

"I got a call from the head coach in New Bedford and he told me I made Team NECBL," described LeMoyne OF Brett Botsford, who plays for the Bay Sox. "I was pretty excited about that. I called my brother because he is a diehard Red Sox fan, so I rubbed it in his face that I was going to be playing at Fenway. Then I called my Mom.

"It was amazing," Botsford continued. "It was a dream come true playing at Fenway. We took BP, which was pretty neat and then just got out to the game. It was a regular game but it still had that atmosphere that was amazing. It was fun."

"We just met the day of the game," said Bay Sox catcher Brandon Miller, a Samford product who also paired with Botsford on Team NECBL. "I felt like we did well as a team. We all seemed to like each other and we went from there.

"We got to Fenway early. Team USA hit first then we got dressed and got on the field. The field is beautiful. They said it was in a little rough shape but you couldn't tell. So we got out there, stretched out, took some BP and that was fun. Hitting at Fenway is a once in a lifetime thing. It was great doing that, and then we just got ready for the game. I got to catch some pitchers from coming in the fifth inning and we just had a good time."

As special as the game was, Botsford and Miller have played enough baseball to quickly get over being starry-eyed. "Once the game started, I stepped into the box and I realized that this was another baseball game and I had been doing this for many years," Botsford stated.

Echoed Miller, "Guys just zone in. After all, it's just baseball and it's the same game no matter where you're playing."

Both also thought that the ball sounded and carried different. Fenway is the rare chance to play in an enclosed stadium.

"It was definitely my coolest experience in baseball," admitted Botsford. "I had never played on a Major League field. I had been on them, but had never played an actual game."

The experience wasn't as cool for Team USA, who fell 3-2 to Team NECBL. The big blow for Team NECBL came from Tom Murphy's massive solo homer. Murphy, ironically, is a catcher for Holyoke. Just like Freeman.

But the CNT quickly put the loss behind them. They arrived in Newport and defeated the Gulls 8-4 on the 28th. Newport's RF Robbie Ort (Indiana State) missed hitting for the cycle by a triple; Freeman went 2-for-2 while Appel, in a homecoming, threw two scoreless innings. He struck out three and walked none.

"I had come on a vacation for about a week out East but I had never actually been in the smaller towns and got to see what life is all about out here," Appel remembered about coming back to New England. "It's definitely a lot different than California. I lived with a host family in Newport, and that was a great experience. I'm still in contact with them."

The tour wrapped up in New Bedford on the 29th.

"The Bay Sox were asking me how their pitching staff was. They have a really good pitching staff from what I saw," Miller revealed in his pre-game scouting report of Team USA. "I was really impressed. They're a very composed team. They know how to play. It seems like they have very good coaching. As far as that goes, it's going to be a good game. I'll be interested to see what happens."

Despite homers from Miller and first baseman Mike DiBase (Brown), the Bay Sox fell to Team USA 7-5.

Whether they were selected for Team NECBL, or just got to play the CNT, several dozen NECBLers this week came together and were treated to a special memory. Now, it's back to knocking each other's block off.

"Just try and get stronger. Try and have good at-bats," replied Botsford on what his goals are for the rest of the summer. "Try to work on a couple of things, like getting better jumps at first base. And winning. I'd like to win and hopefully make the playoffs and see what we can do in the playoffs."

Lyon, Appel and Freeman continue an agenda that would make a travel agent dizzy. The CNT heads to North Carolina, and then Omaha for several more exhibitions, concluding with a four game series against Japan.

Travel aside, Appel realizes he is participating in something extraordinary. "It's hard to put into words," he admitted. "I know I wouldn't be here without God providing so much in my life between talent and opportunities. Every time I look down and see 'USA' across my chest, it kind of reminds me what I'm representing. I get to represent our country by playing baseball, two things that I love and here they're meshing together."

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New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from July 1, 2011


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