Game 7 Recap: Schooners 6, Mountaineers 4

The bullpen woes continued for the Vermont Mountaineers, as another lead slipped away in the late innings against Mystic. The Schooners trailed 4-1 through 5 1/2, but scored five unanswered runs to hand the Mountaineers a sixth straight loss, 6-4.

Vermont is now tied for the worst start in franchise history with the 2010 team. In 2010, Vermont also started 1-6, and went on to lose a franchise-worst 27 games and post a .357 winning percentage.

The cause for this early-season skid is clear. Vermont's been able to build up early leads in four of the six losses, and they've taken them into late innings. It's there, however, that relievers squander them. Here's the splits for the Mountaineers between their starters and relievers:

Starters: 0-1, 32 IP, 6.2 K/9, 1.4 BB/9 1.00 WHIP, 1.41 ERA
Relievers: 1-5, 28 IP, 8.4 K/9, 4.2 BB/9, 1.71 WHIP, 6.75 ERA

The problem is that it's not a lot of Vermont's pitchers will pitch well, then struggle, or vice versa. Reliever Joey Benitez hurled four scoreless innings in the season opener, and came back against Danbury and gave up five runs in four innings. Joe Rocchietti allowed two runs, one earned, in four innings against Upper Valley -- and took the loss last night, allowing three earned runs in the bottom of the eighth.

Baseball Prospectus writer Keith Woolner came up with a way to sort relief pitchers appearances into eight categories -- shutdown (the opponent), slam (the door on them), cough (up the lead), choke (away the lead), cinch, stem (the bleeding), letdown, and mop-up. It's a fairly complicated set of criteria, but he explains it in-depth here, using the flowchart below to make it easier to comprehend.

Through six games, the Mountaineers have had their relievers make 13 appearances. For Woolner's categories, two don't count, having thrown more than three innings. Here's how the other 11 break down.

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Choke (3): The pitcher enters the game with the lead, but the tying run not on base, at bat, or on deck, pitches 3 or fewer innings, and loses the lead.

Two of these outings belong to reliever Morgan Maguire, who's 0-2 on the year with a 13.50 ERA. Opponents are hitting .409 against the Old Dominion right-hander, who's faced a bullpen-high 30 batters. He gave up a two-run lead on June 10th, then allowed four runs over the final three innings to blow a slim one-run lead. The other outing belongs to Kevin Kernan, who lost a two-run lead to rivals Upper Valley.

Cinch (3): Pitcher enters the game with the lead, but the tying run not on base, at bat, or on deck, pitches 3 or fewer innings, and never loses the lead.

This is an interesting category in my opinion. It gives credit to any reliever who enters a game with a lead bigger than one and keeps that lead. In two of these outings, Mountaineers let their opponents back into. Isbell, making his season debut, cut a four-run Vermont lead to just one, and Stadler, also making his debut, cut a three-run lead to one. Lamb's outing was a good one, but the other two were shaky.

Cough (1): Pitcher enters the game with the tying run either on base, at bat, or on deck, pitches 3 or fewer innings, and loses the lead.

In last night's loss, Rocchietti entered in the eighth with a slim one-run lead to protect. He walked the first batter he faced, then allowed a single. Rocchietti wasn't able to work out of the trouble, allowing a pair of RBI singles and a third run scored on a passed ball. 

Letdown (1): Pitcher enters without a lead, and down by no more than 2 runs, and allows the lead to exceed 2 runs.

This is another interesting category, because it applies both in close games and in ties. In Callahan's case, he entered in the 10th inning of a 1-1 game with Sanford. He got an out but then allowed a walk-off solo home run to Chris Gaetano.

Mopup (2): Pitcher enters with the score down by more than two runs, and leaves without his team tying or taking the lead, regardless of outcome.

Both of these outings came against Danbury, with the game already out of reach. Feldman allowed three runs, but Kernan bounced back from a rough first appearance with two scoreless innings.

Stem(1): Pitcher enters without a lead, and down by no more than 2 runs, and exits without letting the lead exceed 2 runs.

Feldman allowed a lone unearned run, but kept the game close with Upper Valley. He entered after Kernan and "stemmed the bleeding."

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If you stuck with me through all that, I appreciate it. Out of the eight categories Woolner created, three are "bad." Choke, letdown, and cough are all negative ones. Unfortunately for the Mountaineers, through their first seven games, roughly half of their bullpen outings have ended in one of those three categories. Moving forward, it'll be interesting to see what they can do to keep leads late in ballgames. 

Game 6 Recap: Westerners 8, Mountaineers 2

Jahn threw seven innings for Danbury. /NewTimes

A game that was supposed to snap a season-opening skid from the Mountaineers turned out to be quite the letdown.

On the road against the Danbury Westerners -- owners of a pitching staff with a NECBL-worst ERA -- Vermont was held in check. Westerners right-hander Will Jahn retired the first 15 batters he faced and turned in seven strong innings, leading his team to a convincing 8-2 win.

Joey Benitez gave up five runs on seven hits and two walks over four innings as the Mountaineers losing streak reached five. They’ve gone winless since Opening Day, and at 1-5, already sit 3 ½ games back of first place Keene.

Frank Maldonado’s two-run home run highlighted a three-run Westerners second against Benitez, who was hit hard in his first start of the summer. A pair of costly Vermont errors didn’t help the starter’s cause, as only two of the five runs he allowed were earned.

Jahn had his best start of the summer for Danbury, as he faced the minimum over six innings. After retiring the first 15 he faced, he gave up a sharply hit single with one out in the fifth to Vermont right fielder Troy Scocca, but quickly bounced back by inducing an inning-ending double play. He allowed a lone run over seven innings on two hits and a walk while striking out five.

Benitez excelled on Opening Day against Upper Valley, hurling four scoreless innings in relief, but he struggled out of the gate. He only gave up one run in the first, coming on a Giovanni Dingcong RBI double, but was bailed out by bad baserunning decisions. A pair of Westerners were thrown out at the plate -- one trying to score from second on a single to left field, and the other attempting to score from third after a throw down kicked into foul territory.

The big inning came in the second. A one-out, two-base error was followed by a RBI double to right-center by Sebastiano Santorelli. Maldonado’s home run followed a batter later, clearing the short porch in right field.  Eddie Silva drove in another run off of Benitez in the third, lining a two-out RBI single up the middle.

Benitez stopped the bleeding with a scoreless fourth, and reliever Davis Feldman hurled a 1-2-3 frame before running into trouble. Feldman hit the first batter he faced in the sixth, then Santorelli connected for a two-run blast to right-center. It cleared the road beyond the fence, narrowly missing a van turning out of the parking lot. Ryan Nelson capped the scoring with a sacrifice fly to right field.

Vermont responded in the seventh, breaking up the shutout bid with a one-out RBI groundout from Ryan Fineman. It came with runners on first and third, and a bobble by Santorelli prevented a potential double play for Jahn to escape the jam.

They tacked on another run against reliever Justin Snyder in the eighth. After putting runners on the corners with one out, Daniel Little dropped down a bunt, but Westerners catcher Nick Gatewood skied his throw to first to bring in a run easily.

It was a tough offensive game for the Mountaineers, as they needed mistakes from Danbury to score. They managed just two hits, lowering their team average to .231 through the first six games. They’ll finish up a Connecticut road trip with a NECBL championship rematch against Mystic tonight. The Schooners are on a similar skid, having dropped four in a row, and sit at 2-4 on the season. First pitch comes at 6:05 p.m.

Game 5 Recap: Muskrats 8, Mountaineers 5

Winnipesaukee's Ryan Stekl dives back into second after a throw down. /Stefan Hard, TA Photo

Jonathan Stiever was very strong in his second start for the Mountaineers, going five innings again and allowing a lone run. The offense was clicking early, chasing Winnipesaukee starter Denis Lyman after just two-plus innings, and they built a 5-1 lead. The bullpen combination of Christian Isbell and Morgan Maguire, surrendered the lead -- and Vermont dropped their fourth straight by a score of 8-5. Over this skid, the Mountaineers have faltered late in games. Here's what the pitching staff looks like right now:

Vermont starting pitchers -- 0-0, 23 IP, 17 K, 6 BB, 1.17 ERA, 2.97 FIP
Vermont bullpen -- 1-4, 21 IP, 22 K, 10 BB, 5.57 ERA, 3.67 FIP

That's got to be very frustrating for both the Mountaineers starting pitchers and manager Joe Brown. In three of the four losses, the starting pitcher exited with a lead. In the lone exception, the game was tied. Tuesday night's loss was a frustrating one as the offense quickly cooled off and Winnipesaukee worked back into it.

Top Play (WPA)
The biggest play of Tuesday's game came in the eighth inning, when Muskrats No. 2 hitter Jimmy Galusky drove in three runs with a bases-loaded double to the wall in left (+.368). Galusky entered that situation 0-for-4 on the night, but he squared up on a 0-1 pitch from Maguire and lined one in the gap, allowing all three runs to come across.

Notes
There's some positives to take away from the loss for Vermont. Stiever has been excellent, going five innings apiece in his two starts this summer. The Indiana product has allowed just one earned run on four hits over 10 innings, striking out seven.

It was also good to see Troy Scocca have a strong day at the plate. Scocca arrived after Vermont's home opener, and struggled to open the summer on the road. During the three-game swing, Scocca went 0-for-11. He drew four walks in the three games, but really broke out against the Muskrats. He finished 3-for-4 with three RBIs, a double, and a walk. Jeremy McCuin made his debut after coming in late from Arizona State and went 2-for-4, while Mikael Mogues had his third straight multi-hit game, going 3-for-4. Mogues is at .381/.409/.476 and is seven for his last 13 at bats.

Maguire's had two shaky outings to start the summer, both against Winnipesaukee. In his first appearance, he gave up three earned runs over one-plus innings of relief, losing a two-run lead and taking the loss. He worked out of trouble in the seventh last night, but loaded the bases for Galusky in the eighth and ended up allowing four runs over two innings. He's faced 30 batters now, and opponents are hitting .409 against him -- he's walked five and has an inflated 13.50 ERA.

Game 4 Recap: Mainers 2, Mountaineers 1

Monmouth's Chris Gaetano delivered the decisive blow, a walkoff home run in the 10th. /Monmouth

Vermont dropped their third straight game Monday night, falling in the bottom of the 10th inning as Sanford right fielder Chris Gaetano ended the game with a one-out, walk-off home run. Gaetano entered the game as a defensive replacement, and the home run came in his first at bat of the night. It's a frustrating trend for the Mountaineers, as all three losses have come due to the combination of a lack of offense and a bullpen that makes that one costly mistake. Here's a look at the last three games.

1 -- Winnipesaukee 5, Vermont 4. Mountaineers starter TJ Santiago strikes out six and allows a lone earned run over four innings, leaving with his team up 2-1. The Mountaineers stretch the lead to 4-2 through six, but reliever Morgan Maguire gives up three earned runs in 1 2/3 innings, and they fall on a walk-off single.

2 -- Upper Valley 6, Vermont 4. Mountaineers starter Joe Rocchietti gives up two runs, one earned, over four innings. He leaves with his team up 4-2, but that lead quickly disappears. Middle reliever Kevin Kernan gives up three earned runs over 2 2/3 innings and the Nighthawks tack on an insurance run late.

3 -- Sanford 2, Vermont 1. Vermont starter Joe Jacques has an impressive start, and middle reliever Chandler Sedat excels -- the duo go nine innings, striking out six and allowing just one run. The game's knotted up at one apiece in the bottom of the ninth and reliever Sean Callahan comes in. After inducing a leadoff groundout, Callahan surrenders a game-winning home run to Gaetano, clearing the trees in right field at Goodall Park. 

The common trend in these losses is that the pitching is strong -- they're fourth in ERA (2.31) -- but the bullpen has just made those few mistakes each game to take them away from a victory. Vermont's taken a lead into the seventh in half of their games, but they dropped both of those. Sedat and Benitez, two relievers, have combined to toss eight scoreless innings of work. 

To reiterate, it's not that the bullpen is bad, they've just had that one game-changing inning in each of these past three games. It's also the first time throwing in some time for quite a few of these guys, so it's not anything to worry about. Vermont has consistently been one of the best pitching teams in the league, and don't expect much to change.

Top Play (WPA)

To no surprise, the top play is Gaetano's solo home run to end the game (.404). He cleared the trees in right field, which is where, if I remember correctly, a majority of the home runs hit during last year's home run derby ended up. Gaetano is a returning NECBLer and hit just two home runs in 24 games with the Mainers last summer, finishing with a .261/.362/.377 slash line. He's 3-for-11 to start this summer, helping Sanford to a three-game winning streak.

Up Next

Vermont hopes to end the skid as they play host to Winnipesaukee tonight at 6:30. The Muskrats are 1-3 also, with their lone win coming against the Mountaineers. 

Sunday Notes: Shaking the rust off

It was an inauspicious offensive start to the NECBL season, to say the least. Having arrived in Vermont, players from Upper Valley and Vermont struggled mightily at the plate out of the gate. Through the first six innings of the league's marquee season opener, neither offense had managed a hit. The Mountaineers rallied for a 2-0 win in the ensuing innings, but it points to a greater trend through the league's first 15 games.

The NECBL's pitchers are averaging just over a strikeout per inning, with 285 in 280 1/3 innings, and the hitters have a low .234 mark. It's obviously a small sample size, but it's 16 points down from last summer. It's expected, though. Vermont Mountaineers manager Joe Brown summed it up pretty well after the season opening win, saying, "I think what you saw tonight is an example of college kids not having swung a bat in a game in about two weeks, some of them three, some four - and great pitching."

"That’s what you’re going to get in this league, night in and night out. You have to do the little things to create the runs."

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The best start of the young season came Saturday night, as Sanford left-hander William Tribucher, a sophomore from Michigan, cruised to a win against Danbury. A season-high 82 game score, Tribucher went six scoreless innings and allowed just one hit while not issuing a walk and striking out six. He retired 15 straight at one point and left after sixth having thrown 71 pitches with his team up 6-0.

It was an impressive outing for Tribucher, who was used primarily as a reliever this spring. He made 23 appearances (three starts) for the Wolverines, striking out 37 in 39 innings of work. Tribucher led all freshmen in appearances and didn't allow an earned run in his first five appearances.

The Michigan-Sanford connection has been strong, as Tribucher is joined by another member of the Wolverines pitching staff. Right-hander Troy Miller struck out three of the four Ocean State batters he faced on Thursday. They're joined by teammates Johnny Slater in the outfield and second basemen Ako Thomas.

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Josh Weinreb, a journalist for the Valley News, is covering the Upper Valley Nighthawks in their inaugural season. Weinreb and the VN staff have provided some interesting insight on the process of launching and managing an expansion franchise in the NECBL, especially over the first few games. Here's a snippet of their coverage that was really interesting.

The batter’s boxes were too small and too close to home plate. Fans wandered past the unmarked ticket tents without paying, costing perhaps a couple hundred dollars in revenue. The hot dog vendor ran out of heated wieners in the second inning and the scoreboard went out for part of the sixth inning. 

None of which caused Noah Crane, the Upper Valley Nighthawks’ general manager, visible stress Saturday evening.

“Growing pains,” said the Lebanon resident, midway through his New England Collegiate Baseball League expansion franchise’s home opener. “We’ll figure it out.”

You can read more about the Nighthawks home field, the Maxfield Sports Complex, here. Weinreb also covered their home opener in detail and discussed the connection Nighthawks manager Nick Cenatiempo and Vermont's Joe Brown have. He also wrote a lengthy feature on Crane, the former Muskrats general manager, reflecting on the process of bringing the Nighthawks to the Upper Valley region.

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The MLB Draft was a success for the NECBL, with six alums taken on the first day, and countless others picked in the ensuing rounds. I'll have a post coming out with a complete list, but here's the league's rundown of the first three picks, coming in the first round.

The San Diego Padres used the 25th pick of the first round of the 2016 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft to select Kent State University rising senior and left-handed pitcher Eric Lauer on Thursday, highlighting a night that saw six total New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) alumni taken in the first two rounds and first two compensatory rounds of the MLB Draft.

Seven picks after Lauer – who was a member of the 2014 Keene Swamp Bats – the Los Angeles Dodgers used their 32nd overall pick to select former Newport Gull Will Smith, a catcher out of Louisville. But the Dodgers weren’t done with NECBL products, using their 36th overall pick in the “Lottery A” compensatory round to select former Laconia Muskrat Jordan Sheffield, a right-hander out of Vanderbilt.

The three of them raise the league’s total to 26 first-round draft selections who are NECBL alumni. Those selections also mark the ninth consecutive MLB Draft in which a product from The New England League was selected in the first round.

 Stay tuned for more coverage!

Game 3 Recap: Nighthawks 6, Mountaineers 4

Vermont's Gabe Levanti gets a lead /VM Photo

For the second game in a row, the Mountaineers bullpen faltered, coughing up a four-game lead as they dropped a 6-4 decision to nearby rival Upper Valley. The Nighthawks fell behind 4-0 early, but slowly chipped away at the lead before scoring four runs in the final three innings to win their first game of the season.

Top Play (WPA)

Trent Leimkuehler's go-ahead RBI double in the bottom of the seventh inning was the game's top play (.325), as it completed the four-run comeback for the Nighthawks. Leimkuehler had gone 0-for-4 in Upper Valley's season opening loss to the Mountaineers, but he finished 2-for-4 in his second game with the decisive RBI. 

Three Notes

1. Blown leads -- Vermont's offense has built leads of 4-1 and 4-0 the last two times, but relievers haven't been able to hold on. In Friday night's 5-4 loss to Winnipesaukee, it was Morgan Maguire (Old Dominion), who gave up three earned runs on four hits in 1 2/3 innings. Last night, it was left-hander Kevin Kernan (Stony Brook). Kernan entered in the fifth with Vermont up by two runs and quickly retired the first five batters he faced, striking out four of them. He ran into trouble though, and gave up RBI singles to Charlie Concannon and Sean Breen to let the Nighthawks tie it. He was handed the loss the following inning, giving up Leimkuehler's double with one out.

2. Missed opportunities -- Vermont had a season-high 10 hits, but stranded 12 runners. They loaded the bases in the first but couldn't push across a run. They left two on in the second and three more in the third. The Mountaineers also had a runner thrown out in the plate in the seventh inning, as Jeremy Giles (Stony Brook) was caught after trying to score from second on a single to center field.

3. Upper Valley relievers -- Nighthawks starter Dakota Edwards struggled through 2 1/3 innings, walking four and allowed four earned runs on six hits. Reliever Jarod Yoakam allowed the runners he inherited from Edward to score, but it was the work done after that which was impressive. The trio of Dylan Verdonk, Joseph Levasseur, and Nick Jones, combined for six scoreless innings. They only allowed three hits while walking two and striking out six. Verdonk beared the brunt of the load, throwing four shutout innings while allowing just two hits. Levasseur put two runners on with nobody out in the ninth, but Jones got the save by entering and setting down three in order. 

Up Next

Vermont has an off day, then attempts to end the early two-game losing streak when they travel to Sanford, Maine. The Mainers dropped their season opener but have won both matchups since, starting the year 2-1. First pitch is at 6:30 p.m. on Monday. 

Game 2 Recap: Muskrats 5, Mountaineers 4

Ryan Stekl (Canisius) willed the Muskrats to victory with two clutch its. 

Vermont's bullpen faltered on Friday night, losing a two-run lead, as reliever Morgan Maguire gave up a two-run home run to Ryan Stekl in the eighth -- then allowed a walk-off single to the Canisius junior in the bottom of the ninth. It was a disappointing loss for the Mountaineers, who had a solid lead entering the final two innings of play. It evened their record at 1-1 to start the season.

Top Play (WPA)
Once again, it's pretty easy to guess which one this is. Stekl's game-winning single in the bottom of the ninth inning (.426) sealed the deal for the Muskrats, their first win since changing their franchise name to Winnipesaukee. It was one of two huge hits for Stekl, who also tied the game with one swing in the bottom of the eighth with a two-run bat. He finished 3-for-5 with three RBIs and a run.

Three Notes
1. Quality pitching -- This is a broad note, clearly, but both teams got a lot of good pitching. One standout was Muskrats reliever Jackson Tetrault (State Col of Florida Manatee-Sarasota). Tetrault entered in the seventh and tossed a pair of 1-2-3 innings, striking out five of the six batters he faced. Even more impressive, Tetrault entered and faced off against the top of the Mountaineers lineup. Vermont starter TJ Santiago (Adelphi) was solid over four innings. The lone blip was a leadoff home run he allowed in his last inning of work, but Santiago struck out six and didn't issue a walk. Reliever Culver Lamb (Old Dominion) bridged the gap to the late innings with three good innings. Lamb allowed a lone unearned run, but only gave up one hit and a pair of walks while striking out four.

2. Strong offense -- Vermont second basemen Jeremy Giles showcased some pop by launching a pair of solo home runs. After going 0-for-2 in the season opener with a walk, Giles homered in his first at bat, then launched one with two outs in the sixth. Middle infield teammate Michael Osinski had another strong game for the Mountaineers, going 3-for-4 with a pair of runs. Osinski also swiped a base to follow up his 2-for-4 night against Upper Valley, making him 5-for-8 (.625) through two games.

3. Aggressiveness on the basepaths -- Not even sure if this needs to be included as a note about a Joe Brown baseball team, but the Mountaineers are up to their usual ways. Vermont went 3-for-3 on the basepaths Friday night, running their total up to five in two games. Last season, Brown's Mountaineers swiped 100 bases in the regular season, and they're already set to come close to that again. They have plenty of speed, as David Lett has a stolen base in both games, while players like Osinski and Daniel Little both have potential.

Up Next
Vermont is on the road -- just a 45-minute trip, though -- to take on Upper Valley for the second time this season. The first game was quite the matchup, as the Mountaineers eked out a 2-0 win behind stellar defense, strong pitching, and timely hitting. Upper Valley sends Dakota Edwards to the mound. Edwards is a returning NECBL All-Star after playing in North Adams last season, and he hurled a no-hitter in his first start for the SteepleCats.