The 12: Plymouth and Newport battle in the South, Vermont builds cushion in North

Chris Kalica has been dominant for the Schooners. /Mystic Photo

I apologize for not coming out with another power rankings piece sooner, as a week has gone by and we're suddenly at the end of June and nearing the midway point of the 2014 NECBL season. The worst team in the NECBL last season, Plymouth, have completed a shocking turnaround and sit on the last day of June with just three losses.

Not a typo. The Pilgrims lost last night to Mystic which snapped an eight game winning streak that included a 14-run rout of Valley. Newport and Vermont are high up in the rankings as usual, and Keene has begun their turnaround as they are steadily moving up the divisional standings.

Here are my second weekly rankings. Tell me what you think about them on Twitter, @bradleysmart15 or in the comments below.

1. Plymouth Pilgrims (LW: 3)- When you've only lost three games heading into July, you're doing something right. They're tied for first in team average and second in ERA with Thomas Jankins unhittable out of the bullpen.

2. Vermont Mountaineers (LW: 1)- Vermont dropped a game to Plymouth and also blew a late lead to Keene to fall out of first in the rankings, but the Mountaineers have rebounded for three straight wins behind an aggressive offense that is tied for the lead in average and has eight more stolen bases then any other team.

3. Newport Gulls (LW: 2)- Plymouth has played two less games then the Gulls, who sit just a game back because of it. Mick Van Vossen and Jack Patterson are 1-2 in strikeouts with 25 and 24 while Marc Huberman quietly has a 1.20 ERA and just eight hits allowed over 15 innings.

4. Mystic Schooners (LW: 5)- A week ago the Schooners were just two games over .500 but they've gone on a tear, winning their last four straight- including a 4-3 victory over Plymouth. They rank first in both team average and ERA, so this Mystic team is dangerous.

5. Sanford Mainers (LW: 7)- The Mainers bounced around in the .500 range but have won two straight after falling to Vermont to pull two games out of first with a game and a half cushion between them and third place North Adams.

6. Ocean State (LW: 4)- On a three-game skid, Ocean State has gone 4-6 over their last ten games to fall four games out of first place in the Southern Division. Their still in the playoffs and will most likely be with Danbury and New Bedford way behind them, but a first-round exit for the second year in a row awaits them.

7. Keene Swamp Bats (LW: 9)- Keene's pitching was one of the best in the NECBL in June, can their hitters pick them up and complete a comeback? They've gone 7-3 over their last ten games and sit just two games below .500.

8. North Adams SteepleCats (LW: 6)- North Adams are third in their division despite not having a winning record. Still, they're just barely fending off fourth place Keene with Laconia just a game back. Currently on a two-game skid, the SteepleCats need to reverse their fortunes to avoid playing the best team come playoffs.

9. Laconia Muskrats (LW: 10)- The Muskrats are en route to missing the playoffs for the second season in a row as they currently sit in fifth, but things aren't as bad as they look. Laconia is just 4.5 games back of first in a crowded division and could easily catch Keene, North Adams and even Sanford.

10. Valley Blue Sox (LW: 8)- Valley is a horrendous 1-9 over their last ten games to go from first to worst in the Northern Division. They're currently on a three game skid.

11. Danbury Westerners (LW: 11)- A league worst eight-game losing streak has Danbury 10 games out of first. They've also played the most games out of anyone in the league, with 20.

12. New Bedford Bay Sox (LW: 12)- New Bedford is 11.5 games back and its still June. They have just two wins and are on a three-game losing streak.

Mountaineer Tracker: Greenwood saves Cards bullpen, Carpenter makes rehab appearance

Greenwood pitches against LA.
(Times Union photo)

6/28 Mountaineer Tracker: Two former Mountaineers made major-league appearances while it was a night of offense down on the farm, with three different Vermont alumni driving in at least two runs. Our player of the night is Nick Greenwood, who made an excellent relief appearance for the St. Louis Cardinals to save the bullpen from a potentially long day. He went four scoreless innings and allowed just three hits to the Dodgers after starter Lance Lynn gave up seven runs in an ugly 9-1 loss.

MLB
Greenwood went four shutout innings to salvage the St. Louis Cardinals bullpen, KMOV.com reports. He ate up four innings in the middle of a blowout to give relief options for the starters in the days to come, all who have struggled lately. Darin Mastroianni had a two-run home run for the Toronto Blue Jays on a 1-3 night in a 4-3 loss to the White Sox. Mastroianni hit his blast off of Chicago ace Chris Sale after being promoted from Triple-A Buffalo before the game.

AAA
Micah Johnson, who was recently named to the Futures League rosters, raised his season average in Triple-A to .278 with a 2-4 performance for the Charlotte Knights. Johnson hit a triple, scored a run and drove in four. He was promoted to the Knights after hitting .329 in Double-A and has heated up as of late, hitting .381 over the last ten games.  Matt Duffy is hitting .301 over 28 games for the Oklahoma City RedHawks after a 2-4 performance last night. Normally in the majors, David Carpenter appeared in one inning for the Gwinnett Braves as he's rehabbing a strained right biceps. Carpenter threw one inning and struck out one batter in a 1-2-3 first.

AA
Kevin Vance made his second consecutive scoreless relief appearance for the Birmingham Barons with two innings of work. He gave up one hit and walked two but struck out two to lower his season ERA to 4.79 over 23 games and 35 2/3 innings.

A+
Jantzen Witte hit a two-run home run for the Salem Red Sox, his first home run since moving up to Class A-Advanced from Greenville, where he was named a Midseason All-Star. Derek Jones went 1-3 with a two-run single for the Modesto Nuts as he's hitting .254 over 70 games with 25 RBIs.

A
Aaron Barbosa continued his recent hot streak, raising his average to .475 over the last ten games with a 3-4 night with a RBI for the Clinton LumberKings. Barbosa is hitting .359 over 21 games after being called up from the rookie level. A promotion to Advanced A could very well be in store in the coming weeks.

R/SS
Brian O'Grady went 1-4 to bring his season average through eight games with the Billings Mustangs in the Rookie Pioneer league. He drove in a run and also picked up a walk. Kevin Krause enjoyed a monster game for the short-season Jamestown Jammers as he went 2-3 with two doubles, a run and four RBIs in his eighth game. He's been hitting the ball extremely well with a .281 mark with 14 RBIs and seven extra base hits.

Take notice: Goss, Wiest and Picard have been dominant out of bullpen

Photo by Roger Crowley

You know a reliever is doing his job when he rarely gets noticed. That's the case for the Vermont duo of Dalton Goss, Ty Wiest and Adam Picard- all who've enjoyed breakout seasons out of the bullpen for the Mountaineers.

Goss (above), a rising junior, has let to allow an earned run over three appearances and seven innings and has worked out of several jams. Dating back to his college season at Martin Methodist, he's on a run of 10 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings.

A right-hander who's transferring to Alabama-Huntsville this offseason, Goss shut down Keene over two innings of work before running into trouble in the eighth. He left with three runners on, all who came home against fellow reliever Sam Spencer. However, it's been the only blemish on Goss's line this summer as he's held opposing batters to a .200 average with runners on base.

Wiest has been especially good after struggling this spring at Columbia. He's given up just one run over his first 7 1/3 innings, a good sign as he gave up 14 runs (11 earned) over just 10 1/3 innings for the Lions.

A rising sophomore, his ERA (1.23) and WHIP (1.54) are significantly down as he's really improved this summer.

Finally, Adam Picard has been a friendly surprise as he was listed as an outfielder on the roster. After making just four appearances two years ago for UMass-Amherst, Picard has shut down opposing hitters and has a 1.29 ERA while holding a 0.85 WHIP. Opponents are hitting just .154 against him while picking up a strikeout in all seven innings he's pitched.

This trio has been stellar so far and should continue to preserve leads late in the game. They've held opposing batters to a .199 mark and have a combined ERA of 0.81.