How and why the NECBL's Big Three dominate

Newport after winning in 2009. /BSU18

Stop me if you've heard this before: the Newport Gulls, Keene Swamp Bats and Vermont Mountaineers are all bringing in talented, deep rosters and are my favorites to win once again. Since 2000, 11 of the 14 NECBL champions have been one of the trio. It doesn't matter who you throw against these teams, they come out on top.

Last season, Newport coasted into the championship while Keene and Vermont battled for Western conference supremancy- the Swamp Bats came out on top in a dramatic-elimination game three. Keene downed Newport in the finals for their second title in three years.

There seems to be a pattern developing here- these three teams have a leg up on the rest of the league. The last six "Top Pro Prospects," an award given out at the end of the year? All members on one of these teams. All three teams have had strong managers over the years- including Vermont's John Russo, Newport's Mike Coombs and Keene's record four Manager of the Year winners.

However, we can't just assume that they'll all be great for another year. This is a summer collegiate baseball league with normally no roster turnover and any team can be the champion the next year...Right? Let's take a deeper look at how Keene, Vermont and Newport have evolved and got here and see if they're anywhere close to letting somebody else have a chance.

The Talent
Obviously, all of these teams bring in a lot of talent every single year. However, the blueprint that these teams follow is a combination of elite pitching and strong hitting. It seems simple but with over 50 summer leagues across the country competing, it can be hard to assemble a solid roster from top to bottom.

Let's look at last season, when the three teams finished 1-2-3 in the final standings. They combined for six of the ten postseason awards and had six guys on the All-NECBL first team. The basic structure of each team was the same.

They built around an ace- Newport's Brett Graves, Vermont's John Miles and Keene's Nathan Kirby- then added another strong pitcher who could be a No. 1 on a different team- James Mulry for the Gulls, Brian Hunter for Keene and David Hickey or the Mountaineers.

Then, the depth really swayed towards these teams. Each team added several strong arms and filled a rotation and some. The Mountaineers had seven pitchers start five or more games, and all but one of them had an ERA under 3.28. The same could be seen in the Gulls and Swamp Bats- deep rotations that gave way to elite bullpens.

Then there's the bullpens. This has to be these teams strongest unit as these teams held leads- 69-9 when leading after six innings. Each team had a lockdown reliever and a guy who could close games- Keene's duo of Matt Clancy and Paul Covelle was unmatched. Newport had Kyle McGrath and Kyle Wilcox while Vermont had Robert Strader and a closer-by-committee approach.

Keene's Sportman. /NEBJ

In terms of hitters, nobody was better then this trio. Keene's small confines of Alumni Field and a lineup tailor made for it resulted in 36 home runs, the league lead. Vermont played small ball and Newport hit a ridiculous amount of doubles.

Each teams also featured an outfielder that nobody in the league wanted to face- Keene's league MVP JP Sportman, Vermont's Chandler Brock and Newport's Ben Roberts. Sportman hit .340, Roberts added a NECBL record 18 doubles and Brock led the Mountaineers down the stretch with a .452 average in the last 20 games.

Last season, both teams featured deep rosters with plenty of great players and impressive depth. That's what the NECBL community has grown to expect from this trio of teams. If you're a fan of a different team, these next sections aren't going to cheer you up looking into the future.

The Brains

These teams are doing a lot right, so its not a surprise that each team has a had a steady front office guiding them to success. The trio of general mangers- Newport's Chuck Pavia, Vermont's Brian Gallagher and Keene's Kevin Watterson (who retired this year) have assembled talented rosters year after year and have brought in excellent managers who get the job done.

Combined, this trio of GMs have hired six mangers of the year to form an impressive resume. Pavia has five rings, Watterson has four and Gallagher has two.

Watterson helped assemble this years team before passing the reins over to former Manager of the Year winner Marty Testo. Testo, a longtime baseball guru, should bring an excellent approach to the job and continue Keene's winning history.

The Managers

Mike Coombs. John Russo. Marty Testo. Paul Swingle. Mike Sweeney. Kevin Winterrrowd. This is the list of Mountaineers, Gulls and Swamp Bats managers who've been named the NECBL manager of the year. Coombs even won twice!

The impressive track record of these managers has been a tip of the hat to these teams front offices. Year after year, this trio has had one of the best guys in the dugout managing the game.

Coombs returns for Newport- he's managed the Gulls since 2005 and holds an impressive career record of 256-121, winning two championships along the way.  Mountaineers longtime great John Russo handed his job off to SUNY-Cortland manager Joe Brown, and he posted a 24-20 record in his first season. It was a noticeable improvement on the 18-23 2012 mark.

Finally, Keene has cycled through several managers, settling on Kevin Winterrowd last season. In his first and only year at Keene, he posted a 29-13 record, won a trophy and was named manager of the year. Dan Moylan, a five-time assistant to new GM Marty Testo, will take over this season.

Is There Hope?
There you have it, NECBL fans. The Mountaineers, Swamp Bats and Gulls always have a deep roster and great coaching because of an impressive front office on every team. NECBL fans might as well get used to seeing these three teams in the conference finals, and if all continues according to plan, they'll alternate winning trophies for years to come.

But here's the catch. Things don't always go according to plan. Look at the last four second-place teams- just one was a member of the Big three. Summer collegiate baseball is all about assembling a roster and hoping everybody shows up.

Maybe a star pitcher, the ace of the staff, gets drafted and signs. Or an unlucky injury sidelines one of the teams best players. Or maybe another GM dives deep into recruiting and finds hidden gems who can upset the Big three's streak of consecutive championships.

Anything can happen. It's just harder to win against one of these teams.