NECBL releases 2024 schedule
- Updated: January 29, 2024
NORTH ADAMS Mass. – The 30th season of the New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) is scheduled to begin June 4. The first week will feature a full slate of six games per night.
Opening Night will be highlighted by the last two league champions squaring off against one another in a Coastal Division contest, between the 2022 champion Martha’s Vineyard Sharks and the defending 2023 champion Newport Gulls. The host of this year’s All-Star Game and 2023 NECBL finalist, Bristol Blues, will open their season at home versus a West Division opponent in the Danbury Westerners. The defending North Division champion Vermont Mountaineers will begin against in-division opponent Sanford Mainers, while the defending West Division champion Valley Blue Sox will begin their campaign against the North Shore Navigators.
The season format will remain the same with 13 teams playing a 44 game schedule over the course of eight weeks. The one change will be the Mystic Schooners returning to their roots as they return to their home field at Fitch High School in Groton, Conn., after calling Dodd Stadium home the past two years. The Coastal Division will consist of the Martha’s Vineyard Sharks (MA), Mystic Schooners (CT), Newport Gulls (RI), North Shore Navigators (MA), and the Ocean State Waves (RI); while the West Division will include the Bristol Blues (CT), Danbury Westerners (CT), North Adams SteepleCats (MA), Valley Blue Sox (MA); and the North Division will feature the Keene Swamp Bats (NH), Sanford Mainers (ME), Vermont Mountaineers (VT), and Upper Valley Nighthawks (VT).
The annual All-Star Game will be hosted for the first time by the Bristol Blues in Bristol, Conn., at historic Muzzy Field on July 21, 2024 at 5 p.m. The All-Star Game features the NECBL’s top talent, with players from all NECBL organizations showcasing their skills in front of scouts from every Major League Baseball (MLB) organization.
The final eight days of the season will feature six games every night in the push for the postseason. The final five days of the season will be exclusively played in-division as teams compete for their playoff berths and final standings.
Eight teams will earn a berth to the postseason, which will feature three rounds of best-of-three series. Qualifying teams consist of the regular season champions from the North, West and Coastal Divisions, along with five Wild Card teams that will be determined by the highest winning percentage.
The 2024 NECBL Postseason opening round will begin Aug. 1, with the top four seeds (including all three division winners) facing seeds 5-8 in the opening of a best-of-three series. The Final Four will begin on Aug. 4 in the same best-of-three format. The Championship Series will begin on Aug. 7, with the winner raising the 2024 Fay Vincent, Sr. Cup.
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The New England Collegiate Baseball League is a wooden bat college summer league that fields teams in all six New England states. Partially funded by Major League Baseball, the New England League started play in 1994 and has sent over 230 alumni to the Major Leagues with nearly 30 alumni taken in the first round of the MLB Draft. For continuing coverage of the NECBL, visit NECBL.com and follow the league on Twitter, Instagram and on Facebook.
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