The New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) is a 13-team collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league founded in 1993 and sanctioned by the NCAA and Major League Baseball. Each NECBL team plays an eight-week, 44-game schedule during June and July, with a playoff in early August. Like the Cape Cod Baseball League and other amateur leagues, the NECBL is a showcase for top college-level players, giving professional baseball scouts a chance to see prospective pros playing against each other. Along with the Cape Cod Baseball League, Northwoods League, and Coastal Plain League, it is considered one of the top summer leagues in the country and is a part of the National Alliance of College Summer Baseball. In 2019, the Collegiate Summer Baseball Register ranked the NECBL as the 2nd best collegiate summer baseball league, behind only the Cape Cod League.[1][2][3]
Founded in 1993, the NECBL began its direction under George Foster, former Cincinnati Reds and New York Mets All-Star and Major League Baseball home run leader, and Emmy Award-winning television producer/director Joseph Consentino. Play started in 1994 and today the NECBL plays in all six New England states.[4] It recruits players attending U.S. colleges from New England, the other 44 states, and foreign countries, provided that they come from NCAA-sanctioned colleges or universities, are in good academic standing, have completed at least one year of athletic eligibility, and have at least one year of eligibility remaining.
The NECBL's current commissioner is Sean McGrath, former general manager of the North Adams SteepleCats. McGrath replaced Mario Tiani, who retired following the 2012 season.
League structure
The NECBL became a 13-team league in 2013 with the addition of teams in Rhode Island (Ocean State Waves), Massachusetts (Plymouth Pilgrims) and New York (Saratoga Brigade) (the league's first team to operate outside New England), but reverted to 12 teams after the Brigade folded. On October 30, 2015, the league announced that the Upper Valley Nighthawks would begin play in 2016 in Hartford, Vermont, bringing the league back to 13 teams.[5] The Plymouth Pilgrims ceased operations after the 2018 season[6] but were replaced by the Martha's Vineyard Sharks, a former member of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League (FCBL). The New Bedford BaySox ceased after the 2019 season, replaced by the Bristol Blues, who also moved from the FCBL.[7] The North Shore Navigators returned to the league in 2021 after nine years in the FCBL.[8] The Winnipesaukee Muskrats folded following the 2022 season after the league's governing board rejected the team's strategy to house players.[9]
In the 2021 season, the league was divided into two seven-team divisions, the North Division and the South Division. During the regular season, teams played 44 regular-season games, solely against division opponents, because of COVID-19 travel concerns. Scheduled doubleheaders were seven-inning games.
The top four teams from each division qualified for the eight-team playoff bracket, in which teams played best-of-three series to determine the champion.
For 2022, the NECBL went to three divisions, with a single pair of games against each out-of-division team. The league has retained the three-division format through the 2024 season.
In the NECBL's history, the most successful team is the Newport Gulls, with eight league championships and thirteen championship series appearances (including one championship appearance as the Cranston, Rhode Island–based Rhode Island Gulls). The Keene Swamp Bats are next with five league titles and the North Shore Navigators have four.[15]
The All-Star Game usually takes place from mid- to late July. Prior to the game a Home Run Derby is held and, since the 2007 All-Star Game, a Special Skill Competition for Most Accurate Arm and Fastest Runner.
The following former NECBL players have gone on to play in Major League Baseball.[36] Former NECBL players have reached the major league rosters of all thirty MLB teams, the thirtieth team being the Philadelphia Phillies when, in September 2015, Brian Bogusevic debuted with the team.[37]
Major League Baseball alumni of the New England Collegiate Baseball League
All NECBL games are broadcast online through the NECBL Broadcast Network from Blueframe, with Pointstreak providing live stats for all games.[38]
On May 14, 2010, the league signed an agreement with Pointstreak. Pointstreak provides "real-time scoring, official statistics, and administration services" to the NECBL. A highlight of Pointstreak's services is Game Live, a real-time statistics feature providing play-by-play for every NECBL game.[39]
In 2020, the league announced that Blueframe would provide the official streaming service for the league.
↑ Nation, Boyd (September 21, 2010). "Talent Levels for the 2010 College Summer Leagues". Boyd's World. Archived from the original on March 7, 2012. Retrieved February 21, 2012. Overall, other than the clearcut win for the Cape, this leaves me a little fuzzy as to who's second, or to even who the second tier is. Overall, the NECBL, Jayhawk, and Northwoods leagues look good, but if you pay less attention to the D1% column (which may be reasonable, given the strength of the California JC ranks, for example), the California and West Coast leagues may join them.
Mackenzie Stadium is a baseball venue located in Holyoke, Massachusetts. It was home to the Holyoke Millers and today is used by both the Valley Blue Sox of the New England Collegiate Baseball League and the Elms College Blazers of the New England Collegiate Conference. It was built in 1933 and has a capacity of 4,100 people.
The Newport Gulls are a wooden-bat, collegiate summer baseball team based in Newport, Rhode Island. The Newport Gulls Baseball Club is a member of the Coastal Division of the New England Collegiate Baseball League. Since 2001, the Gulls have played at Cardines Field.
The Vermont Mountaineers are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Montpelier, Vermont. The team, a member of the New England Collegiate Baseball League, plays their home games at Montpelier Recreation Field. The Vermont Mountaineers are consistently one of the better teams in the NECBL, and more specifically, the Northern Division. In 2022, the Mountaineers broke the NECBL record for wins in a single season, with 32.
The North Shore Navigators are a wooden-bat, collegiate summer baseball team based in Lynn, Massachusetts, playing in the New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL). The team plays home games at Fraser Field in Lynn. The team is owned by Old School Sports Group, LLC.
The Sanford Mainers are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Sanford, Maine. The team, a member of the New England Collegiate Baseball League, plays their home games at Goodall Park.
The Danbury Westerners are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Danbury, Connecticut. The team, a member of the New England Collegiate Baseball League, plays their home games at Rogers Park. The team played its inaugural season in 1995. The Danbury Westerners are the oldest active team in the NECBL. The Westerners compete in the Southern Division in the NECBL.
Joe Wolfe Field is a baseball field in North Adams, Massachusetts, United States. The field is home to the North Adams SteepleCats of the New England Collegiate Baseball League, a collegiate summer baseball league based in New England. The park was built in 1986, with the SteepleCats first utilizing the facility at their inception in the 2002 NECBL season. It has a seated capacity of 1,800 spectators, with additional seating and standing areas located down either foul line. The dimensions of the field are 325 ft. down the lines, 358 ft. in the gaps, and 385 ft. in dead center field. The park faces south in the Noel Field Athletic Complex. The field is lighted for night play with 8 light poles.
The Winnipesaukee Muskrats were a collegiate summer baseball team in Laconia, New Hampshire, playing in the New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL), a wood bat league operating in the northeastern United States. The team's home field was Robbie Mills Field in Laconia.
Robbie Mills Field is a baseball venue located in Laconia, New Hampshire, United States. It was home to the Winnipesaukee Muskrats of the collegiate summer New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL). The Muskrats began play there in the 2010 season. The field was built in 2005 and is named after Robbie Mills, a Laconia boy who was killed and robbed of his bicycle in 1998.
The Mystic Schooners are a collegiate summer baseball team that operates in the Mystic, Connecticut region. The franchise is one of the two oldest franchises in the New England Collegiate Baseball League.
The Old Orchard Beach Raging Tide was a collegiate summer baseball team based in Old Orchard Beach, Maine. It was a member of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League (FCBL), a wood-bat league with a 56-game regular season comprising 10 teams from New Hampshire to western Connecticut. The team played its home games at The Ball Park.
The Martha's Vineyard Sharks is a collegiate summer baseball team based on Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts. It was a charter member of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League (FCBL), a wood-bat league comprising seven teams from New Hampshire to western Connecticut. The Sharks played in the FCBL from 2010 to 2018 before switching to the New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL), where they began playing in 2019. In 2019 the Sharks posted the best regular-season record in the league and won a best-of-three series against the Newport Gulls to win the Southern Division, but ultimately lost 2–0 in the NECBL Championship to the Keene Swamp Bats. The team's mascot is likely a reference to the film Jaws, which was filmed on Martha's Vineyard and made it a popular tourist destination.
The Futures Collegiate Baseball League (FCBL) is an eight-team collegiate summer baseball league. It has four franchises in Massachusetts, two in Connecticut, and one each in New Hampshire and Vermont.
The Nashua Silver Knights is a collegiate summer baseball team based in Nashua, New Hampshire. It is a charter member of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League (FCBL), a wood-bat league with a 64-game regular season comprising eight teams ranging from New Hampshire to western Connecticut. The team's home games are played at Holman Stadium in Nashua. The team is owned by John Creedon Jr, who also owns the Worcester Bravehearts.
The Pittsfield Suns are an inactive summer collegiate baseball team based in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA, that plays in the Futures Collegiate Baseball League (FCBL) of New England. The team's home games are played at Wahconah Park in Pittsfield.
The Plymouth Pilgrims were a collegiate summer baseball team based in Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States. The team, a member of the New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL), played its home games at Forges Field in Plymouth.
The Valley Blue Sox are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Holyoke, Massachusetts. The team, a member of the New England Collegiate Baseball League, plays its home games at Mackenzie Stadium. The Blue Sox were founded in 2001 as the Concord Quarry Dogs but moved following the 2007 season to Holyoke to fill the void left by the departure of the Holyoke Giants to Lynn, Massachusetts. In 2017, the team won its first NECBL championship against the Ocean State Waves.
The Bristol Blues are a summer collegiate baseball team based in Bristol, Connecticut. It is a member of the New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL), a wood-bat league with a 44-game regular season that has six franchises in Massachusetts and two each in New Hampshire and Connecticut. The team's home games are played at Muzzy Field in Bristol.
The Upper Valley Nighthawks are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Hartford, Vermont. The team, a member of the New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL), plays their home games at the Maxfield Sports Complex. The team began play in 2016 under the direction of the Crane Family. The Cranes previously created and operated the Laconia Muskrats in the NECBL.
The Westfield Starfires are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Westfield, Massachusetts. They play in the Futures Collegiate Baseball League (FCBL), a wood-bat league with a 56-game regular season comprising eight teams from northern Vermont to western Connecticut. The team, owned by Chris Thompson, plays its home games at Bullens Field in Westfield.
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