Prep Baseball Report

2022 New England Summer Series: Team Preview - Northeast Baseball


Bruce Hefflinger and Dylan Hefflinger
PBR Ohio Senior Writer and Editor in Chief/NW Scout

 

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Eight of the top organizations in New England have teamed up with Prep Baseball Report to form a new league that will benefit players and colleges alike.

The PBR New England Summer Series will begin in late June to the delight of those involved.

“College coaches can come out to see the best organizations in the area,” explained Rich Gilbride, the director of the league. “A bunch of colleges in New England have asked why can’t we get something together at one venue for them to come out and watch and we finally decided to get one together. Everyone thought it was a great idea.”

The eight-team league will play four games once a week at Fraser Field in Lynn, Ma,, a 5,000-seat venue that has played host to many minor league teams over the years. Games will be nine innings in duration and be held at 9 a.m., noon, 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. every Tuesday beginning on June 28.

Players throughout each organization in the 2023-2025 graduating classes will participate.

“These are high-level organizations that already send kids on to play college baseball,” Gilbride said. “This will only help bring maximum exposure for players in each organization.”

The Expos, Gilbride’s organization, will be joined in the newly formed league by the U.S. 9 Prospects, GBG Hawks, J & M Baseball Academy, Northeast Baseball, New England Ruffnecks, River Rats and Team Boston. Each will play one game each week over a seven-week season, with play ending on Aug. 16.

2022 New England Summer Series: Team Preview - Northeast Baseball

Northeast Baseball

Matt Kruger speaks about the organization.

The accomplishments of Northeast Baseball have been phenomenal.

“We’re a college development program with over 800 players moving on and over 50 going to the pros,” noted Matt Kruger, a coach who has now been with the organization based out of Harvard, Ma., for its 14 years of existence. “We’ve had guys picked in the top three rounds of the draft.

“Our number one goals are to have players move on and play at any level of college baseball while helping find the best fit for them.”

The philosophy is simple for an organization that will have 10 teams from 12U to 17U this season and had more than 25 Division I commits in the 2022 class last year with more than 40 overall.

“We try to develop guys on and off the field, guide them through the recruiting process and help them make the best decision for themselves and give them a good experience,” Kruger related.

The PBR New England Summer Series will aid the beliefs of Northeast Baseball

“This allows us to play during the week against some of the best organizations in New England,” Kruger said. “These are organizations that have some of the same goals we do, attracting as many scouts as we can.”

It just adds to the schedule for Northeast Baseball this summer.

“We’ll play a fair amount of local games plus travel,” Kruger noted. “We’re going to play in the 15U and 17U PBR Championships for the first time this year and we’re excited about that. We’re also going to host tournaments for 16U and 18U (June 10-12), so we’re trying to mix local and travel while looking to play the highest level of competition we can.

“Our goal is to play 45 or so games, so we’ll schedule 50 with weather and all. We want to play as many games as we can throughout the summer, mostly tournaments and now this league.”

The benefits of the league are enormous in the eyes of Kruger.

“We’re going to be playing high-level competition,” Kruger said. “This allows us to know who we play with good players and good coaches. It will really challenge our guys, that’s the number one thing for us.”

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