Middletown Giants win NECBL
By Al Carbone

The Middletown Giants captured their third consecutive New England Collegiate Baseball League title, defeating the Danbury Westerners, threee games to one. The Giants, who finished second in the regular-season with a 27-15 mark, had advanced to the finals after defeating the Rhode Island Reds (25-16), two games to one. Danbury (23-19) defeated regular-season champion Keene Swamp Bats (27-14) in the other semifinal series. Middletown's Tom Lopusznik (Fairfield) and Bob Acabbo (Vermont) shared Playoff Most Valuable Player honors.

Several New England-area collegiate players excelled in the NECBL in 1999. Chris Morgan (Central Mass. Collegians/UMass) led the league in hitting with an impressive .396 average. Cy Hess (Eastern Tides/UConn) finished second in hitting (.356), while Matt Keating (Danbury Tides/Northeastern) ranked sixth with a .333 clip. Kyle Rikert (Middletown Giants/UVM) led the NECBL with 28 stolen bases. On the pitching side, Steve Langone (Rhode Island Reds/BC) finished with a 3-1 record and a 1.44 E.R.A., while James Bailin (Rhode Island Reds/Maine) was 6-1 with a 2.61 ERA. Cliff Smith (Central Mass. Collegians/Brandeis) ranked second in the circuit with 71 strikeouts.

League Notes:
The NECBL will have a different look in 2000 as there has been some organizational movement. ... A new franchise, the Manchester (Conn.) Silkworms, will begin play with Scott Smith, an assistant coach at Eastern Conn, as the head coach. ... The Rhode Island Reds were granted a one-year leave of absence from the league in order to find a better playing location, probably somewhere in northern Rhode Island. ... The Central Mass. Collegians also were granted a one-year leave of absence. ... Lastly, the Mill City Americans will start up in 2000. They will be based in Lowell, Mass., and led by head coach Chip Forrest, presently an assistant at Harvard.