The NECBL Daily Rundown - June 24th, 2022

June 25, 2022 - New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) News Release

Double digit efforts by the Gulls and Nighthawks highlight Friday's seven-game slate

Newport Gulls 14 - Keene Swamp Bats 6

W - Liam LeVangie 1-0 (Bryant) 1 IP 2 H 1 ER 1 BB 1 K

L - Noah Lewis 1-1 (Maine Orono) 3.2 IP 7 H 6 ER 2 BB 4 K

Cardines Field in Newport R.I. - The Newport Gulls (8-6) outslugged the Keene Swamp Bats (7-8) on the back of a late inning surge.

The Gulls got the scoring going in the second inning as Slate Alford (Mississippi St.) blasted a two-run home run to put Newport up 2-0. The team was not done there as the offense tacked on with four runs in the fourth. The runs came on another two-run home run, this time by Joshua Kuroda-Grauer (Rutgers) and a two-run single off the bat of Samual Kulasingam (Air Force) .

The Gulls were up 6-0, but Keene wasn't going away that easily. TheSwamp Bats got on the board in the fifth on a single by Tony Santa Maria (Rutgers) and scored again in the sixth on a Jake Berg (Jacksonville) single. The Swamp Bats continued chipping away in the eighth as Tyler Mckenzie (Vanderbilt) knocked a three run home run.

Keene was within two runs when Newport opened the floodgates in the bottom of the eighth. Trent Farquar (Michigan State) led off the inning with a solo home run. The Gulls followed that up by scoring three runs on walks, scoring on a Kulasingam RBI groundout, and a Farquar two-run single for his second RBI hit of the inning. After the seven run eighth inning, the Gulls were up 14-5. After Keene scratched across one more run in the ninth, Newport finished off an impressive win.

The Gulls will hop on a ferry to take on the Martha's Vineyard Sharks Saturday at 7:05 p.m. The Swamp Bats will head up to Vermont to take on the Mountaineers at 6:30 p.m.

Upper Valley Nighthawks 10 - Mystic Schooners 1

W - Jack Choate 2-0 (Assumption): 5.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K

L - Charlie McDaniel 0-1 (Presbyterian): 1.1 IP, 6 H, 6 ER, 1 BB, 0 K

Maxfield Sports Complex in Hartford, VT - The Upper Valley Nighthawks (7-7) blew out the Mystic Schooners (6-6) to improve to .500.

Upper Valley blew the game open in the bottom of the second and never looked back. RBI singles by Jonathan Hogart (Louisiana Tech), Kyle Novak (James Madison), Tyler Sorrentino (Charleston), Max Grant (Canisius) and Ryan Ignoffo (Eastern Illinois) plated five Nighthawk runners, extending their lead to 6-2. All five players, along with Luca Trigiani (St Josephs), had two hits on the night.

Upper Valley opened the scoring in the first inning through a Ryan Ignoffo RBI. Mystic responded to score its only run of the contest in the top of the second. A solo homer by Kevin Ferrer (Connecticut) knotted the game at one before the Nighthawks scored five in the bottom of the inning.

The Nighthawks added two more in the fourth after an error. Upper Valley tacked on an additional run in the sixth and seventh to make it a nine run game. The pitching of Jack Choate (Assumption), Seth Logue (Kentucky) and Tyler Legere (Lipscomb) for the home team combined to give up just one run and five hits.

The Nighthawks look to win their third straight in Valley against the Blue Sox (8-6) today at 6:35 p.m. The Schooners aim to get back on track when they visit the Waves (6-10) later today at 6:30 p.m.

Vermont Mountaineers 9 - Bristol Blues 4

W - Maxwell Parker 2-0 (Le Moyne) 5 IP 7 H 4 ER 2 BB 2 K

L - Reed Mascolo 0-1 (Wake Forest) 4 IP 5 H 3 ER (4 R) 0 BB 6 K

Muzzy Field in Bristol CT - The Vermont Mountaineers (15-1) defeated the Bristol Blues (12-4) in the battle of the two best records in the NECBL.

The Mountaineers struck for four runs in the third inning. The runs scored on a Keegan Calero (Dayton) RBI single, a Jack Cone (William and Mary) double, as well as two balks. Bristol responded with a Trevor Austin (Missouri Columbia) sac fly in the fourth to make it 4-1, but Vermont tacked on from there. In the fifth, Tom Ruscitti (Fairleigh Dickinson) roped a three-run double to put Vermont up 7-1. The Blues stayed in the game later in the inning by scoring three runs of their own. These runs came on a Chaz Myers (Pacific) single, Griffin Arnone (Elon) fielder's choice, and Austin RBI single.

With the Mountaineers leading 7-4 after 5, Vermont went on to score two more runs. Gerry Siracusa (UMass Lowell) drew an RBI walk in the seventh, and Stephen DiTomaso (George Washington) drove in a run on a fielder's choice in the ninth. Vermont's bullpen tallied four hitless innings to end the game, sealing the deal on the team's seventh straight win.

The Mountaineers will return home to take on the Keene Swamp Bats on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. The Blues will remain at Muzzy Field to take on the North Shore Navigators on Saturday at 6:30 p.m.

North Adams SteepleCats 6 - Ocean State Waves 5 (10 innings)

W - Will Hearn 1-0 (San Francisco): 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K

L - Jack Erbeck 0-1 (Fairfield): 1.0 IP, 1 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K

Joe Wolfe Field in North Adams, Mass. - The North Adams SteepleCats (4-11) walked off on the Ocean State Waves (6-10) in extra innings.

After giving up a run in the top of the tenth, the SteepleCats immediately hit back. A double by Ryan Galanie (Wofford) brought in the tying run. Galanie eventually got to third after multiple walks and ran home on a passed ball to win the game for North Adams.

Ocean State scored its run in extra innings through an Alex Ramirez (Rhode Island (U of)) RBI. Ramirez ended the night with two hits, the most on the Waves.

North Adams scored two in the bottom of the third to get the game going. Ocean State made it a one-run game in the top of the fifth when Justin Szestowicki (North Carolina) hit a sacrifice fly. The SteepleCats extended their lead to 4-1 in the bottom of the inning after RBIs from Brady Mutz (Monmouth) and Tyler Epstein (Nova Southeastern). Epstein ended the game with three hits, the most by any player on either team.

The real drama came in the top of the ninth when Ocean State scored three runs to tie the game at four a piece. Ocean State scored again in the top of the tenth to take the lead, before a string of Ryan Galanie heroics plated two runs for the SteepleCats.

Ocean State hosts Mystic (6-6) later today at 6:30 p.m. while North Adams heads to Danbury to face the Westerners (7-8) at 6:30 p.m. as well.

Winnipesaukee Muskrats 7 - North Shore Navigators 3

W - Joe Rotkis 1-0 (Morehead State): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K

L - JD Ogden 0-2 (Columbia): 5.0 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K

Fraser Field in Lynn, Mass. - The Winnipesaukee Muskrats (7-7) got themselves to an even record following a 7-3 win over the North Shore Navigators (3-13).

The Muskrats gained momentum at the top of the first when second baseman Patrick Roche (Boston) batted in third baseman Matthew Alifano (Adelphi) following a single and a walk for a 1-0 lead. After the Navs shut down the Muskrats in the second, Alifano scored again after designated hitter Jacob Corson (Bucknell) brought him home but the Navigators' first baseman Connor Bertsch (Dartmouth) followed up with a home run in the bottom of the fourth to split the deficit to just 2-1.

North Shore couldn't hold back the Muskrats' response when center fielder Cristian Mercedes (Southern New Hampshire) and left fielder Brendan Concannon (Paris JC) got home for another two runs but the Navs put in a 6-4-3 double play that eventually closed the fifth inning quickly for a 4-1 score.

The defense couldn't contain Winnipesaukee for long as they punched in another three runs in the sixth and seventh innings by Roche, Alifano, and catcher Cole Palmeri (Colby). The Navigators put up a fight in the end as they had a run in the bottom of the seventh and ninth innings by right fielder Stan DeMartinis III (Bryant) and second baseman Ty Dooley (Radford) which finalized the score, 7-3.

Alifano had the most runs of the night with three as Muskrats pitcher Chris Flynn (Roger Williams) highlighted the pitching squad by striking out five runners which was the most by a pitcher in the game.

The Muskrats look to get on the positive side of .500 when they face the Sanford Mainers (6-10) at home as the Navigators take on the Bristol Blues (12-4) who remain the second-best in the league.

Valley Blue Sox 10 - Sanford Mainers 9

W - Connor Bailey 2-1 (Xavier): 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K

L - Zachary Rodgers 0-1 (UMass Lowell): 1.0 IP, 1 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K

S - Andrew Roman 2 (Salve Regina): 2.0 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K

McKenzie Stadium in Holyoke, Mass. - The Valley Blue Sox (9-6) edged out the Sanford Mainers (6-10) in a high-scoring back-and-forth contest at McKenzie Stadium on Friday night.

With the Mainers leading 8-7 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning, the Blue Sox put together a three-run inning, taking advantage of four walks, a balk, and a wild pitch by the Sanford pitching staff to take the lead over the Mainers. Sanford threatened in the top of the ninth with a pair of singles from Calvin Hewett and David Bermudez cutting the deficit to just one run but they were ultimately unable to complete the comeback as Roman struck out the last batter of the game to earn the save.

The Blue Sox offense was spearheaded by Steven Luttazi (UMass Amherst) with three RBIs while his teammate Blaze Fadio (Lafayette) went 2-for-3 with 2 RBIs. Despite suffering the loss Sanford outhit the Blue Sox 11 hits to six with Quinn McDaniel (Maine Orono), Calvin Hewett (Vanderbilt), Grant Knipp (Campbell), David Bermudez (Manhattan), and Joey Rezek (East Carolina) each getting two hits including a double by Hewett and a triple and three RBIs from Knipp.

Both teams return to play on Saturday, June 25, with the Mainers hitting the road to take on the Winnipesaukee Muskrats at 6 p.m. while the Blue Sox host the Upper Valley Nighthawks beginning at 6:35 p.m.

Martha's Vineyard Sharks 4 - Danbury Westerners 2

W - Jack Beauchesne 2-0 (Northeastern): 1.2 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K

L - Renn Lints 2-3 (Bucknell): 1.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

S - Camron Hill 2 (Georgia Tech): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K

Vineyard Baseball Park in Oak Bluffs, Mass. - Martha's Vineyard Sharks (8-8) edged the Danbury Westerners (7-8) out in a 4-2 win Friday night.

Westerners' second baseman Jackson Taylor (Indiana State) jump started his team in the third frame when he ran home following a two hit by pitches and got the run with a sacrifice fly by third baseman Sam Mongelli (Sacred Heart) but the Sharks responded soon after with a run by catcher Matthew Maloney (Dayton) after a walk was issued for a tied game, 1-1.

Danbury broke the tie in the top of the fifth when Taylor smacked a double and got home off of a single by left fielder Dayvin Johnson (Nebraska Lincoln) to make the score 2-1. The Sharks then took off in the next inning as they got three runs on the board by first baseman Ryan Nicholson (Cincinnati), shortstop Henry Wallen (undecided) and left fielder Luke Masiuk (Northeastern) which eventually ended the game 4-2.

The pitching committee for the Sharks was impressive as Hill and Alejandro Torres (Miami) did not allow a hit on the night and each had three strikeouts. Taylor was the lone wolf for Danbury as he posted their two runs.

The Sharks remain at home to host the Coastal Division leader, Newport Gulls (8-6) in a key divisional matchup at 7:05pm while the Westerners get back home to host the North Adams Steeplecats in a West Divisional game at 6:30pm.

New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from June 25, 2022

• Vermont Downs Keene for Eighth Straight Win - Vermont Mountaineers
• The NECBL Daily Rundown - June 24th, 2022 - NECBL

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