NEWS

SOUTH HADLEY, MA - The New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) is proud to announce the recipients of three 2023 regular season awards - Rookie of the Year, Rick Ligi Most Valuable Player and Stephen Strasburg Top Pro Prospect.

 

2023 Rookie of the Year: Devin Taylor (Keene, OF, Indiana)

 

The Rookie of the Year Award goes to the best Rookie throughout the season, who proved paramount to their team’s success. 

 

Taylor was a bright spot for the SwampBats this season, batting .314 and leading the team in hits (38), home runs (8) and RBIs (30) across 33 games and 121 at-bats. Taylor was selected as a reserve on the 2023 West Division NECBL All-Star Team. 

 

Taylor also participated in the 2023 Home Run Derby, advancing to the Championship Round with five home runs and finishing with nine total, including a 389-foot blast. 

 

Taylor’s best game of the season came on July 22 at Upper Valley, where he helped propel the SwampBats to a 16-10 win with three hits, two runs scored, a home run and five RBIs. 

 

2023 Rick Ligi Most Valuable Player: Logan Poteet (Sanford Mainers, C/1B, Vanderbilt)

 

Poteet won his second award of the 2023 regular season to go along with Batting Champion honors.

 

Poteet helped the Mainers in a big way this season, overcoming a rough start to the season to finish second in the North Division, which was good for the No. 5 seed in the NECBL postseason. Poteet led the Mainers in average (.347), RBIs (25) and finished second in hits (35). 

 

Poteet was also strong in the field, recording 58 putouts and a .984 fielding percentage in 55 innings as catcher along with a 1.000 fielding percentage at first base.

 

Poteet’s best game of the season came against the SwampBats on July 11 where he went 2-for-2 from the plate, hitting a home run and driving in four runs. 

 

Poteet’s production earned him Player of the Week honors in Week 6 along with a selection in the 2023 All-Star Game as the starting catcher for the East Division.

 

2023 Stephen Strasburg Top Pro Prospect: David Horn (Newport Gulls, RHP, Vanderbilt)

 

Horn recorded a 5.92 ERA and struck out 18 across 13.2 IP in the regular season. His best performance came in a July 18 matchup against the Bristol Blues when he struck out seven across four scoreless no-hit innings in a game that was called in the fifth inning due to a stadium lights malfunction. 

 

Horn was also an important part of Newport’s playoff run, leading the Gulls to an 11-4 victory in an elimination game against the Ocean State Waves on August 1. Horn allowed just two hits and struck out eight batters across five scoreless innings to force a deciding game three at Cardines Field. From that point forward, Newport carried its momentum throughout the playoffs and won six straight to capture their league-leading seventh NECBL Championship.