NEWS

After an exciting forty-four game regular season, which concluded on Sunday, July 31, six teams have punched their ticket to the 2022 NECBL Postseason in a quest for the Fay Vincent Cup. The playoffs include the winner from the North, West and Coastal Divisions, along with three Wild Card teams. This year marks the first season with this postseason format.

The top two teams from the regular season have clinched byes, avoiding the Wild Card Round and moving straight on to the Final Four. The Wild Card Round takes place tomorrow night on Monday, August 1, in a winner-take-all scenario. Each winner from the first round will move on to the Final Four to face one of the top two seeds. The Semi Finals are a best-of-three series, with the higher seed hosting games one and three (if necessary). The Championship Series is set up the same, with the winner being crowned the 2022 Fay Vincent Cup Champions. 

All games in the postseason can be streamed live on the NECBL Broadcast Network: watch.necbl.com. 

 

2022 NECBL Postseason Seeding:

 

#1 - Vermont Mountaineers (North Division Winner, 32-12)

 

Vermont ran away with the North Division, clinching first place with more than ten games left. The Mountaineers tied the 2016 Newport Gulls for the most wins in a single regular season with thirty-two. Vermont clinched the one seed by virtue of a tiebreaker over the Bristol Blues. 

 

The Mountaineers got off to a scorching hot start and had the best record in the league for virtually the entire season. They were the last undefeated team at 8-0 earlier in the season, and rattled off a season-high nine straight victories between June 17-26 after losing their first game of the season. The Mountaineers slowed down towards the backend of the season, going just 4-6 in their last ten games. Vermont’s last trip to the Championship Series came back in 2015, when they won it all. The Mountaineers are three-time Fay Vincent Cup champions.

 

Vermont was dominant on offense and defense. The Mountaineers ranked second in the NECBL with 283 runs and third in batting average, ending the season at .260. Their offense was led by Gerry Siracusa (Massachusetts Lowell), who batted a team high .330 with eighteen RBIs. Vermont also ranked highly in pitching, posting the second best ERA at 3.29 and fourth most strikeouts with 408. Their entire staff was consistent, as fourteen different pitchers posted a sub-four ERA. Reliever Brendan McFall (Tufts) posted an impressive 1.14 ERA over almost twenty-four innings.

    

 

#2 - Bristol Blues (West Division Winner, 32-12)

 

Like Vermont, Bristol handled the West Division with ease, finishing over ten games above second-place Danbury. The Blues, like the Mountaineers, also tied the 2016 Newport Gulls for the most wins in a single regular season with thirty-two. Bristol landed in the two seed after a tiebreaker gave Vermont the edge.

 

The Blues were consistent all season, winning long-stretches of games regularly. Their longest winning streak came when they won nine in a row in mid-June. Bristol enters the postseason on a high note, winners of three straight and taking home seven of their last ten games. The Blues have never made the Championship Series since joining the league in 2015.

 

Bristol led the league with a 3.17 team ERA and only 168 runs allowed. The Blues walked the third-least batters while also owning the second-lowest home runs allowed total at seventeen. Starters Colin McVeigh (Fairfield) and Jagger Duquette (Wagner) both posted sub-two ERAs over more than thirty-innings each. The Blues didn’t slack on offense either, ending with the fourth-most runs scored with 231 and the fourth-best team average at .247. Shortstop Chaz Myers (Pacific) led Bristol with a .377 average over thirty-six games.   

 

#3 - Newport Gulls (Coastal Division Winner 30-14)

 

Newport just edged Martha’s Vineyard to win the Coastal Division. The Gulls were consistent all season, staying over .500 in forty-three of their forty-four games. Newport ended the season on a three-game win streak and was 7-3 in its last ten contests. The Gulls had multiple extended winning streaks throughout the season, the longest being an eight-game stretch between June 26 and July 6. Newport’s last appearance in the Championship Series was in 2014 when it won the Fay Vincent Cup. The Gulls lead all teams with six championships. 

 

The Gulls were led offensively by Mississippi State men Colton Ledbetter and Slate Alford. Ledbetter ended the season with a .365 average, was tied for the league home run lead with eleven and led the NECBL with forty-seven RBIs. Alford was close behind in both categories, ending with a .346 batting average and forty RBIs. Both Bulldogs helped Newport lead the league in runs, scoring 291, batting average, hitting .282, and homers, smashing 48. The Gulls held their own on the mound as well, pitching to a fifth-best 3.77 team ERA.  

 

#4 - Martha’s Vineyard Sharks (First Wild Card, 29-15)

 

Martha’s Vineyard narrowly lost the Coastal Division race, ending just one game back of the Newport Gulls. After starting the season slowly at 7-8, the Sharks won twenty-two of their final twenty-nine games. In their last ten games, Vineyard is 8-2, making it the hottest team entering the playoffs. The Sharks’ longest win streak this season was eight straight between July 13-20. Martha’s Vineyard’s last trip to the Championship Series came in 2019 when it was runners-up to the Keene Swamp Bats. Vineyard has never won a Fay Vincent Cup.

 

The hosts of the All-Star Game were propelled by both their stellar pitching staff and consistent offense. Martha’s Vineyard ranked fourth in the NECBL with a 3.69 ERA and third with a .221 opponent batting average. The Sharks also ranked second in team batting average at .274 and third in total runs scored with 256. Third baseman Michael Snyder (Washington) led the NECBL with a .406 batting average. Pitchers Camron Hill (Georgia Tech) and Alejandro Torres (Miami) are two of the best relievers in the league, posting a 0.75 and 1.28 ERA respectively. 

 

#5 - Mystic Schooners (Second Wild Card, 23-21)

 

Mystic ended in third place in the Coastal Division, but its 23-21 record propelled itself to the number five seed and the second Wild Card spot. The Schooners hold the longest active streak in the postseason, appearing in the playoffs for their ninth straight season. Mystic slowed down at the end of the season, winning just three of its final ten games, but held tough enough to still clinch a playoff position. Their hottest stretch of the season came between July 4-9 when they won six straight. Mystic last appeared in the Championship Series in 2016 when it won it all. That is currently the only Schooners championship. 

 

The Schooners were led by their pitching. Mystic’s team ERA ranked seventh in the NECBL at 4.11. They also ranked sixth in the league in total runs allowed with 208. Mystic’s staff was led by Jonathan Gonzalez (Stetson) and Matthew Nunan (Boston College). Both pitchers started six games and posted sub-three ERAs. Despite ranking in the bottom five in both team batting average and runs per game, outfielder Kevin Ferrer (Connecticut) was one of the most consistent players in the entire league. Ferrer ended the regular season with a .354 average and twenty-seven RBIs in thirty-four games.

 

#6 - Sanford Mainers (Third Wild Card, 22-22)

 

 

 

 

Wild Card Round Matchups:

 

#3 Newport Gulls vs #6 Sanford Mainers

Monday, August 1st, 6:30 PM, Cardines Field in Newport

 

The Gulls and Mainers split their regular season series this year. Each team won on their opponent’s home field. Newport topped Sanford 8-3 on June 15th, and the Mainers won a week later at Cardines 6-4. 

 

#4 Martha’s Vineyard Sharks vs #5 Mystic Schooners
Monday, August 1st, 7:00 PM, The Shark Tank in Martha’s Vineyard

 

Martha’s Vineyard and Mystic faced off six times during the regular season, splitting the series at three apiece. The Sharks won the last two matchups on July 28 and July 29 by a combined thirteen runs. Five of their six matchups had less than ten total runs scored. 

 

2022 NECBL Playoff Schedule
Monday, August 1st - Wild Card Games (Winner Take All)

 

Tuesday, August 2nd - Thursday, August 4th - Final Four (Wild Card Winners vs Top 2 Seeds, Vermont and Bristol. Top seed hosts Games 1 and 3, if necessary)

 

Friday, August 5th - Sunday, August 7th - Championship Series (Final Four Winners - Higher Seed hosts Games 1 and 3, if necessary)

 

The NECBL congratulates its six member franchises that made it to the postseason and wish them nothing but the best in their quest for the Fay Vincent Cup!