Seacoast Mavericks
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The Seacoast Mavericks is a collegiate summer baseball team located in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. It is a charter member of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League (FCBL), a wood-bat league comprising 10 teams from New Hampshire to western Connecticut.
Ownership and management
The team is owned by Dave Hoyt, a former minor-league player for the Minnesota Twins and the owner and operator of USA Training Centers in Newington. This facility runs a youth program called the Mavericks Club, from which the team took its name. Mike Daboul is the Director of Baseball Operations and Sean Evans is the General Manager.
Former Boston Red Sox pitcher Bob Stanley is president of the club. Stanley gives lessons at USA Training Centers on a part-time basis.
Results
In 2011 and 2012, the Mavericks played at Bert George Field in Rochester, the ballpark of Spaulding High School on the north side of the city. The club invested $50,000 to build new dugouts and seating areas and make other improvements to the ballpark.[1] Earlier, the club had studied Marshwood High School in South Berwick, Maine as a home.
The inaugural year started with tragedy as player Adam Keenan collapsed and died of heart failure after the team's first practice.[2] The Mavericks finished the year with a record of 10-33, in last place in that year's four-team league.
In 2012, the FCBL expanded to 9 teams, recruiting the Old Orchard Beach Raging Tide and the North Shore Spirit away from the similar New England Collegiate Baseball League. These two teams joined the Nashua franchise as rivals just over an hour's drive from Rochester. The regular season was expanded from 44 to 54 games and a semifinal round was added to the playoffs. The team finished in 8th place with a regular-season record of 20-33.
The Mavericks played 6 of the home games of the 2012 season at Leary Field in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Daboul described attendance for those games at "about 500" per game, exceeding the team's average of 251 for the season.[3]
In 2013, the regular season expanded again, to 56 games. The club adopted Leary Field as its home,[3] improved the dugouts, and installed on-field bullpens to replace areas that were separate from the playing field. On 30 June, the team hosted the Old Orchard Beach team at Marshwood H.S. as part of a day of activities in memory of former student Troy Pappas. This was the league's first all-Maine contest. The Mavericks reported a franchise-record attendance of 1622. The regular-season record of 21-32 slightly surpassed the previous year but again put the club in 8th place, 4½ games out of contention for the post-season.
For the 2014 season, the FCBL acquired a tenth team and began divisional play, placing the Mavericks in the East Division. Former Maverick player Tommy Chase was promoted to manager.[4] The team ended the regular season at 24-29, two games behind the final playoff wildcard.
In 2015, Chris Tilton became manager,[5] and former manager Dave Adam served as pitching coach. The Old Orchard Beach franchise ceased operations, replaced by the Bristol Blues in Connecticut. The Nashua team was moved to the East Division to compensate, putting New Hampshire's two franchises in the same division. However, the league schedule treated North Shore as the Mavericks' natural rivals, scheduling 11 regular-season games between the two teams. Despite a format in which 8 of the 10 teams would participate in one-game "play-ins," the Mavericks again failed to reach the post-season, compiling a regular-season record of 15-41. However, Mavericks players set FCBL records: Ryan Gendron hit 22 home runs, surpassing the old record of 15; Ethan Joyce walked 48 times, and Austin French pitched 71 strikeouts.
2016 season
In May 2016, USA Training Centers presented a site plan to the Brentwood, New Hampshire Planning Board to build up to four baseball fields in the town. The plan contemplated a move of the Mavericks to "a baseball stadium to seat 3,000 to 4,000 people".[6]
Ben Bizier became the manager[7] of an all-new roster. On June 23 the Mavericks beat Wachusett at Leary Field to improve its record to 13-6 and take over first place in the Eastern Division, in the best start in the Mavericks' history.[8] The team got another infusion of talent when players from University of Miami who had signed with the Mavericks at the start of the year finished the College World Series and joined the team.[9] After exchanging the division lead with Nashua several times, the Mavericks finished first in the Eastern Division at 36-18. The Mavericks played a semifinal series against Nashua, won the first game in Nashua but lost the next two at home. The FCBL named Bizier its Manager of the Year.[10]
In November, the Mavericks abandoned the move to Brentwood in favor of a different stadium site "off the Spaulding Turnpike".[11]
Regular-season results and attendance
| Year | Record | Place | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 10-33 (.233) | 4th | 4,108 (4th of 4) |
| 2012 | 20-33 (.377) | 8th | 6,532 (8th of 9) |
| 2013 | 21-32 (.396) | 8th | 11,309 (8th of 9) |
| 2014 | 24-29 (.453) | 4th in East | 9,718 (9th of 10) |
| 2015 | 15-41 (.268) | 5th in East | 9,978 (8th of 10) |
| 2016 | 36-18 (.667) | 1st in East | 8,063 (9th of 10) |
Postseason appearances
| Year | Play-In Round | Semi-Final Round | FCBL Championship | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Bye (won Eastern Division) | Nashua Silver Knights | L (1-2) | |||
References
- ^ Mike Zhe (2011-02-17). "Seacoast Mavericks taking shape". Foster's Daily Democrat.
- ^ Mike Zhe (2011-06-07). "Seacoast Mavericks player dies after practice". SeacoastOnLine.com.
- ^ a b Mike Zhe (2012-12-06). "Mavs make the move to Portsmouth". Foster's Daily Democrat.
- ^ Mike Zhe (2014-02-04). "Chase takes over as Seacoast Mavericks manager". SeacoastOnLine.com.
- ^ "Seacoast Mavs hire Tilton as manager". Seacoast Online. 2015-03-31.
- ^ Jason Schreiber (2016-05-20). "USA Training Center unveils ballpark, possible stadium plans in Brentwood". Manchester (N.H.) Union-Leader.
- ^ "Mavs return at Leary: Aubin to start Wednesday's home opener". Seacoast Online. Retrieved 2016-06-08.
- ^ Staff reports (2016-06-28). "Seacoast Mavericks beat Pittsfield, extend program-best start to 16-7". Foster's Daily Democrat. Retrieved 2016-07-06.
- ^ "Seacoast Mavericks edge Silver Knights, 2-1". Nashua Telegraph. Retrieved 2016-07-06.
- ^ "Mavs' Bizier named Manager of the Year". Seacoast Online. Retrieved 2016-08-06.
- ^ Jason Schreiber (2016-12-01). "Plans for baseball stadium in Brentwood are abandoned". Manchester Union-Leader.
