2002 NECBL season

{{Infobox league season
|name=2002 NECBL season
|image=
|caption=
|comment=
|season_start=June 8
|season_end=August 1
|playoffs_start=August 2
|cup_title1=Quarterfinal 1
|cup_date1=
|cup_champ1=Danbury over Middletown
|cup_title2=Quarterfinal 2
|cup_date2=
|cup_champ2=Newport over North Adams
|cup_title3=Quarterfinal 3
|cup_date3=
|cup_champ3=Keene over Torrington
|cup_title4=Quarterfinal 4
|cup_date4=
|cup_champ4=Mill City over Concord
|cup_title5=Semifinal 1
|cup_date5=
|cup_champ5=Newport over Danbury
|cup_title6=Semifinal 2
|cup_date6=
|cup_champ6=Keene over Mill City
|champion_title=NECBL Championship Series
|champion_date=August 9-10
|champion_site=[[Alumni Field (Keene)|Alumni Field]], [[Cardines Field]]
|champion=Newport
|seasons_title=NECBL seasons
|prev=[[2001 NECBL season|2001]]
|next=[[2003 NECBL season|2003]]
}}

The '''2002 NECBL season''' was the ninth season in the history of the [[New England Collegiate Baseball League]]. The league expanded to twelve franchises with the addition of the [[North Adams SteepleCats]] of [[North Adams, Massachusetts]] and the [[Sanford Mainers]] of [[Sanford, Maine]], the league's First Franchise in the [[New England]] state of [[Maine]]. Also, the league's [[Willimantic, Connecticut]] franchise changed its named from the [[Pittsfield American Defenders|Eastern Tides]] to the [[Pittsfield American Defenders|Thread City Tides Tides]].<ref>http://www.necbl.com/2002finalstandings.htm NECBL standings archive; URL accessed December 9, 2008</ref>

In the quarterfinal playoff rounds, Danbury defeated Middletown 2-0, Newport defeated North Adams 2-1, Keene defeated Torrington 2-1, and Mill City defeated Concord 2-1. In the semifinal rounds, Newport defeated Danbury 2-0, and Keene defeated Lowell 2-1, setting up a championship series between the [[Newport Gulls]] and the [[Keene Swamp Bats]]. In game 1, Newport defeated Keene 8-4, and in game 2, Newport defeated Keene 3-2 to win the NECBL championship.<ref>http://www.necbl.com/2webstats/Confstat.htm NECBL playoff archive; URL accessed December 9, 2008</ref>
==Regular Season Standings==
====Western Division====
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"
!Rnk
!Team
!Wins
!Losses
!Win Pct.
!GB
|-
|'''1'''
|[[Danbury Westerners]]
|25
|16
|.610
|0
|-
|'''2'''
|[[North Adams SteepleCats]]
|23
|19
|.548
|2.5
|-
|'''3'''
|[[New Bedford Bay Sox|Torrington Twisters]]
|22
|20
|.524
|3.5
|-
|'''4'''
|[[Manchester Silkworms]]
|16
|26
|.381
|9.5
|}
====Northern Division====
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"
!Rnk
!Team
!Wins
!Losses
!Win Pct.
!GB
|-
|'''1'''
|[[Keene Swamp Bats]]
|31
|11
|.738
|0
|-
|'''2'''
|[[Holyoke Blue Sox|Concord Quarry Dogs]]
|24
|17
|.585
|6.5
|-
|'''3'''
|[[Lowell All-Americans]]
|24
|18
|.571
|7
|-
|'''4'''
|[[Sanford Mainers]]
|15
|27
|.357
|16
|}

====Southern Division====
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"
!Rnk
!Team
!Wins
!Losses
!Win Pct.
!GB
|-
|'''1'''
|[[Newport Gulls]]
|25
|17
|.595
|0
|-
|'''2'''
|[[North Shore Navigators|Middletown Giants]]
|23
|19
|.548
|2
|-
|'''3'''
|[[Riverpoint Royals]]
|13
|29
|.310
|12
|-
|'''4'''
|[[Pittsfield American Defenders|Thread City Tides]]
|10
|32
|.238
|15
|}
==League Leaders==
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0
!Category
!Player
!Team
!Stat
|-
|'''Avg.'''
|Mike Wagner
|North Adams
|.342
|-
|'''ERA'''
|Grant Reynolds
|Danbury
|0.46
|-
|'''H'''
|Mike Wagner
|North Adams
|50
|-
|'''R'''
|Mike Wagner
|North Adams
|39
|-
|'''RBI'''
|Bryan LaHair
|Keene
|33
|-
|'''2B'''
|Joseph Cantone
|Riverpoint
|12
|-
|'''3B'''
|Mike Wagner
|North Adams
|4
|-
|'''HR'''
|Bennett Stapf
|Danbury
|7
|-
|'''TB'''
|Mike Wagner
|North Adams
|85
|-
|'''SB'''
|Rafael Lara
|Newport
|22
|-
|'''K'''
|David Humen
|Keene
|77
|}
<ref>http://www.necbl.com/1webstats/Lgsumm.htm#form.lgt NECBL league leaders archive; URL accessed December 9, 2008</ref>
==League Awards==
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"
!Award
!Player
!NECBL team
|-
|'''Most Valuable Player'''
|Mike Wagner
|North Adams
|-
|'''Top Pro Prospect'''
|Grant Reynolds
|Concord
|-
|'''Batting Champion'''
|Mike Wagner (.342)
|North Adams
|-
|'''10th Player Award'''
|Trey Hendricks
|Keene
|-
|'''Defensive Player of the Year'''
|Rafael Lara
|Newport
|-
|'''Top Pitcher'''
|Grant Reynolds
|Concord
|-
|'''Top Relief Pitcher'''
|Chris Homer
|North Adams
|-
|'''Sportsmanship Award'''
|Ranger Wiens
|Newport
|-
|'''Rookie of the Year'''
|Jeff Frazier
|Danbury
|-
|'''Most Improved Player'''
|Mike Bergeron
|Newport
|-
|'''Manager of the Year'''
|Paul Swingle
|Keene
|}
<ref>http://www.necbl.com/awards2002.htm NECBL standings archive; URL accessed December 9, 2008</ref>

==Attendance==
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"
!Rnk
!Team
!Year Total
!Game Average
|-
|'''1'''
|[[Keene Swamp Bats]]
|38,898
|1,852
|-
|'''2'''
|[[New Bedford Bay Sox|Torrington Twisters]]
|29,345
|1,467
|-
|'''3'''
|[[Holyoke Blue Sox|Concord Quarry Dogs]]
|30,315
|1,443
|-
|'''4'''
|[[North Adams SteepleCats]]
|19,087
|908
|-
|'''5'''
|[[Newport Gulls]]
|16,640
|792
|-
|'''6'''
|[[Sanford Mainers]]
|13,829
|658
|-
|'''7'''
|[[Manchester Silkworms]]
|8,728
|415
|-
|'''8'''
|[[Danbury Westerners]]
|6,992
|368
|-
|'''9'''
|[[North Shore Navigators|Middletown Giants]]
|7,561
|360
|-
|'''10'''
|[[Pittsfield American Defenders|Thread City Tides]]
|4,226
|201
|-
|'''11'''
|[[Riverpoint Royals]]
|3,800
|172
|-
|'''12'''
|[[Lowell All-Americans|Mill City All Americans]]
|2,975
|156
|-
|'''TOTAL'''
|'''NECBL'''
|'''182,396'''
|'''735'''
|}
<ref>http://www.necbl.com/1webstats/Confstat.htm NECBL team statistics archive; URL accessed December 21, 2008</ref>

==External links==
* [http://www.necbl.com NECBL website]
==Notes==
{{reflist}}

{{NECBL seasons}}

[[Category:New England Collegiate Baseball League|{{PAGENAME}}]]