New England Collegiate Baseball League
Current season, competition or edition: 2016 NECBL season | |
 | |
| Sport | Baseball |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1993 |
| Motto | Keep your eye on the dream |
| No. of teams | 13 |
| Country |  United States |
| Most recent champion(s) | Mystic Schooners (2) |
| Most titles | Newport Gulls (6) |
| Official website | www |
The New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) is a 13-team collegiate summer baseball 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.[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 has become a strong twelve-team league that 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 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 the formation of an expansion franchise based in Hartford, Vermont that would begin play in 2016, bringing the league size back up to 13 teams.[5]
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.
Current franchises
Template:NECBL Labelled Map (see individual team websites below)
- An asterisk (*) denotes a charter franchise of the league
Former teams
Relocated or renamed teams
Defunct teams
| Team | City | Stadium | Capacity | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fairfield Stallions | Fairfield, Connecticut | Alumni Baseball Diamond | 1,000 | 1994 |
| Bristol Nighthawks | Bristol, Connecticut | Muzzy Field | 4,900 | 1994–1995 |
| Waterbury Barons | Waterbury, Connecticut | Municipal Stadium | 6,000 | 1994–1996 |
| Central Mass Collegians | Leominster, Massachusetts | Doyle Field | 6,200 | 1995–1999 |
| Riverpoint Royals | West Warwick, Rhode Island | McCarthy Field | 2,500 | 1996–2004 |
| North Shore Navigators | Lynn, Massachusetts | Fraser Field | 3,804 | 1994–2011 |
| Old Orchard Beach Raging Tide | Old Orchard Beach, Maine | The Ball Park | 6,000 | 2000–2011 |
| Saratoga Brigade | Saratoga Springs, New York | East Side Recreation | 2013 |
Season structure
For the current season, the league is divided into two six-team divisions, the North Division and the South Division. During the regular season, teams play in-division opponents a total of six times, three games at home and three away. Teams play out-of-division opponents twice, one game at home and one away. These games make up the 42 game regular season schedule. When doubleheaders are scheduled due to inclement weather, NECBL rules dictate that they are two seven-inning games. NECBL regular season games have 2 umpires, while All-Star and playoff games have 3 or 4 umpires. The top four teams from each division qualify for the playoffs. In the division semifinal round the first seeds play the fourth seeds and the second seeds play the third seeds, respectively, in best-of-three series. The winners of the division semifinals advance to the division finals, where they play a best-of-three series against their fellow division finalist. The division champions advance to the NECBL championship series, where they face each other in a best-of-three series to decide the NECBL champion.
Past champions
| Franchise | Titles | Last Title | Appearances |
|---|---|---|---|
| Newport Gulls | 6 | 2014 | 11 |
| Keene Swamp Bats | 4 | 2013 | 6 |
| North Shore Navigators | 4 | 2010 | 4 |
| Vermont Mountaineers | 3 | 2015 | 5 |
| Sanford Mainers | 2 | 2008 | 4 |
| Central Mass Collegians | 2 | 1996 | 2 |
| Mystic Schooners | 2 | 2016 | 3 |
| Danbury Westerners | 0 | 4 | |
| New Bedford Bay Sox | 0 | 4 | |
| Laconia Muskrats | 0 | 1 | |
| Waterbury Barons | 0 | 1 | |
| Bristol Nighthawks | 0 | 1 | |
| Valley Blue Sox | 0 | 0 | |
| Riverpoint Royals | 0 | 0 | |
| Fairfield Stallions | 0 | 0 | |
| North Adams SteepleCats | 0 | 0 | |
| Ocean State Waves | 0 | 0 | |
| Plymouth Pilgrims | 0 | 0 | |
| Saratoga Brigade | 0 | 0 | |
| Old Orchard Beach Raging Tide | 0 | 0 | |
| Upper Valley Nighthawks | 0 | 0 |
In the NECBL's history, the most successful team is the Newport Gulls, with six league championships and eleven championship series appearances (including one championship appearance as the Cranston, Rhode Island-based Rhode Island Gulls). The defunct North Shore Navigators franchise had four league titles. The Keene Swamp Bats have four league titles. The Vermont Mountaineers have three league titles. A pair of franchises have won two championships, the Sanford Mainers and the defunct Central Mass Collegians. The Mystic Schooners won a single championship, when the team was known as the Eastern Tides in the league's inaugural 1994 season.[7]
Notable alumni
The following former NECBL players have gone on to play in Major League Baseball.[8] Former NECBL players have reached the major league rosters of 29 of 30 MLB teams, with the Philadelphia Phillies being the only team for which a league alumnus has yet to appear. Template:NECBL alumni
Media
All NECBL games are broadcast online through the NECBL Broadcast Network, with Pointstreak providing both audio and video for all games.[9]
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.[10]
See also
- List of New England Collegiate Baseball League ballparks
- List of NECBL seasons
- List of Collegiate Summer Baseball Leagues
Notes
- ^ Rogers, Kendall (July 20, 2007). "Kendall's Mailbag: Ducks in a row". Rivals.com College Baseball. Archived from the original on June 8, 2011. Retrieved June 8, 2011.
- ^ Nation, Boyd (September 21, 2010). "Talent Levels for the 2010 College Summer Leagues". Boyd's World. Archived from the original on February 21, 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.
- ^ "2012 Baseball Season Preview Part 1: Q&A with Head Coach Brett Boretti". GoColumbiaLions.com. Columbia University Athletics. February 23, 2012. Archived from the original on March 4, 2012. Retrieved March 4, 2012.
- ^ "NECBL Goes with 10 Teams for 2012". BallparkDigest.com. February 11, 2012. Archived from the original on February 21, 2012. Retrieved February 21, 2012.
- ^ "on Pointstreak Sports Technologies". Pointstreak Sports Technologies. Retrieved November 2, 2015.
- ^ Berkshire Dukes Box Score, c. 2004 URL accessed June 5, 2009 Archived October 31, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ NECBL Record Book at necbl.com, URL accessed July 22, 2009 Archived July 10, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ NECBL alumni archive, URL accessed August 2, 2009 Archived December 8, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ NECBL Broadcast Network at necbl.com, URL accessed June 4, 2010. Archived June 4, 2010
- ^ NECBL Signs Agreement with Pointstreak at necbl.com, URL accessed June 4, 2010. Archived June 4, 2010