NEWS

Laconia’s Braxton Martinez (Player) and Plymouth’s Zac Houston (Pitcher) Earn Week 5 Awards!

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – As the New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) calendar turned to July, two more of its players continued to scorch on the diamond, as Laconia’s Braxton Martinez (St. Louis) and Plymouth’s Zac Houston (Mississippi State) were named the Player and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, the league announced Monday.

Martinez represents Laconia’s first player to earn a weekly award this summer, while first-place Plymouth saw its historic second season garner yet another bright spot with its league-high fourth player selected to a league honor.

At the dish, 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.

Those efforts helped the Muskrats finish 3-1 last week to move into fourth place in a jam-packed NECBL North Division. On the year, the rising junior out of Saint Louis has appeared in 20 games with a .397 batting average that ranks third in the NECBL. The right-handed third baseman also has tallied three homers, 11 RBI, is a perfect 6-for-6 on the bases and owns a .986 OPS.

On the mound, last week featured plenty of noteworthy performances across the league, but the dominance of Plymouth’s Houston stood above the rest. The rising sophomore 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.

In four appearances this season, Houston has allowed just one earned run in six innings with 11 strikeouts, four walks and a .118 opponents’ average against. His efforts helped keep the Pilgrims in first place last week with a 3-2 record in five games.

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)

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The New England Collegiate Baseball League is a wooden bat college summer league that fields teams in all six New England states. Partially funded by Major League Baseball, the NECBL started play in 1994 and has sent over 100 alumni to the Major Leagues. For continuing coverage of the NECBL, visit NECBL.com and follow the league on Twitter and on Facebook.