NEWS

SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. -- With a change in the New England League's division setup, the Northern Division has gone from seven teams to five. The North Adams SteepleCats went to the West Division, and the North Shore Navigators are now in the Coastal Division, but the Keene Swamp Bats, Upper Valley Nighthawks, Vermont Mountaineers, Sanford Mainers, and Winnipesaukee Muskrats remain.

Vermont Mountaineers

The Vermont Mountaineers are one several teams from the North Division that made the playoffs last season. Former Vermont Mountaineers hitting coach Mitchell Holmes will take over as the team’s 2022 manager following the departure of third-year coach Charlie Barbieri. Vermont finished the 2021 season with a 21-20 record.

The team sees the returns of catcher Adam Retzbach and outfielder Kade Kretschmar. Retzbach had the second-most home runs on the Mountaineers last season, while Kretschmar provided a .423 on-base percentage.

Keene Swamp Bats

The team with the best regular season record in the NECBL’s 2021 season, the Keene Swamp Bats, is bringing more firepower to its 2022 campaign. Eight of the Swamp Bats’ players are on college teams in the Division I NCAA Tournament, with a pair of players from Vanderbilt, Virginia, Louisville, and Wake Forest. 

The Commodores’ Tyler McKenzie and the Demon Deacons’ Lucas Costello will be accompanied by Carter Mathison and Matt Almonte in Keene’s outfield. Almonte is returning to the Swamp Bats after hitting .291 with a .382 on-base percentage for the team last season. Costello will look to continue success in the NECBL from Wake Forest, where he has an .877 OPS in 67 plate appearances.

Along with Almonte, pitcher Zachary Davidson is also returning to the squad after a quality season with Keene last year. Davidson posted a 3.46 ERA and 12.9 strikeouts per nine innings for the Swamp Bats in 2021, and also led the NECBL in total strikeouts. He will look to provide more quality starts in 2022.

Keene will be led by manager Shaun McKenna in his second season at the helm. 

Upper Valley Nighthawks

Right behind Keene in the regular season standings last season was the Upper Valley Nighthawks. They have three players from Division I NCAA Tournament teams, with two of them coming from No. 11 Southern Mississippi. 

They also have two quality returners from last season’s 23-18 squad. First baseman William Sullivan was Upper Valley’s home run leader in 2021, as he slugged seven round-trippers last summer. The other returner for the Nighthawks is Kyle Novak, who drove in 49 runs in 53 games this year for James Madison University.

For the second season, Justin Devoid will be managing Upper Valley.

Sanford Mainers

Although carrying over a 16-26 record from last season, the Sanford Mainers are bringing a squad with players from some high-profile colleges. They have seven players on teams in the Division I NCAA Tournament. Sanford’s infield should be intriguing to watch, as it features Virginia Tech’s Nick Holesa, Vanderbilt’s Matthew Polk, and East Carolina’s Jacob Starling. Holesa has played 23 games this year, while Polk has played 22 and garnered an on-base percentage of .366. Starling, meanwhile, has driven in 25 runs for the No. 8 Pirates in 2022.
The team will also see the return of Brian Craven, who posted a productive 2.90 ERA in 21.2 innings in 2021. Nic Lops will also be back to manage the Mainers this summer.

Winnipesaukee Muskrats

The Winnipesaukee Muskrats are coming off a 14-26 record, and have three returners with Ryan Dee, Geoffery Mosseau, and Kohl Abrams coming back. 

Matt Brown-Eiring looks to be a key contributor in the outfield the same way he was in Stony Brook after driving in a team-leading 50 runs. In the infield, Brady Day looks to continue success from his season with Kansas State, where he got on base at a .402 clip.
The North Division has a lot in store this summer, and the race to the top should be as interesting as ever.