6 Silkworms Taken in 2008 Player Draft

Newport’s Five-Run Third Inning and a Pair of Homers Ends Series

MANCHESTER – Playing the game was probably just a formality.

The heavily favored Gulls scored five times in the third inning and coasted to a 9-3 victory over the Silkworms Monday night at Northwest Park.

“That’s been our season all year,” Al Leyva said after his fist year as the Silkworm manager came to a merciful end. “We cruise along and then all of a sudden a key error that goes into another error. We made two errors that cost us two runs. It’s unfortunate, but hopefully they will learn from it. In this game, you can’t give up four or five outs an inning.”...more

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Newport, RI-The NewportGulls exploded for eight runs in the first inning to highlight a 9-2 defeat of the Manchester Silkworms in Game Oneof the NECBL Southern Division semi-finals.

Other than that Mrs. Lincoln,how did you like the play?...more

MANCHESTER –  The 2008 Silkworms didn’t just back into the playoffs, they went like an NFL defensive backwith Randy Moss in their face.
The Silkworms can thank the North Shore Navigators, who eliminated Torrington with a 1-0, 10-inning win at neutral site in Holyoke. As a result, the Silkworms secured the fourth and final playoff spot in the NECBL South Division despite the 12-3 beating they took at the hands of up and coming Vermont Thursday night at Northwest Park.... more
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MANCHESTER –  The Silkworms and Westerners concluded their season series with a double-header split Tuesday night at Northwest Park with the home team winning both of the seven-inning games ...more

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Newport RI- We’ve got Trouble.  Right here in Silk City.  With a capital “T” and that rhymes with “C” and that stands for “Control.”...more
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Silkworms and Twisters Rained Out

by Paul Ofria/Silkworm Sports Information Dept

MANCHESTER –  The Silkworms’ home game Sunday night against Torrington was rained out and will be played on Friday, August 1st, if necessary. The Silkworms hold a two game lead over the Twisters for the fourth and final playoff spot in the NECBL South Division.

Sunday’s game was a make-up from a July 1st rainout between the teams at Northwest Park. Overnight rain and heavy downpours late Sunday afternoon left the field unplayable.

The won-loss records of the bottom four teams in the NECBL South Division look like Delta House report cards, but two of the teams will qualify for post-season play. North Adams is the valedictorian of the group with a tenuous hold on third place, checking in at 16-21.

Manchester (15-22), with five games remaining on its regular season schedule, can qualify for the post season with any combination of Manchester wins and Torrington losses adding up to five. Torrington  (12-23) has seven games left, including double-headers on Tuesday and Wednesday. Manchester travels to Newport on Monday before hosting last place Danbury (11-23) for two seven-inning games on Tuesday at Northwest beginning at 4:30 pm.

"We were talking that if we played (Sunday) and Manchester won, it would be hard for Torrington to catch us," Manchester GM Ed Slegeski said. Manchester was hoping to tie its season high of two straight wins after shutting out Danbury Saturday night. Brian Pendergast (Unionville, CT/Manhattan College) pitched a three-hit, complete game in a 4-0 victory over Danbury at Northwest Park.

Sunday's Silkworm vs. Torrington game will be made up only if it has bearing on the standings. Another possible scenario would have Manchester traveling to Newport on Friday instead if Monday's game became a victim of the weather as well. The 22-16 Gulls are battling with Pittsfield (22-12) for first place in the division. The NECBL would like to get the playoffs started as scheduled on August 1st if possible.

"It's about as clear as mud, literally " Slegeski said of the NECBL's final regular season week and pending playoffs.

Wednesday is an open day for the Silkies - for now - before traveling to Vermont on Thursday to play a makeup game against the 18-17 Mountaineers. The 2006 and 2007 NECBL Champion Mountaineers are currently in fourth place and battling for their playoff lives in the North.

Righty becomes first Manchester pitcher to go the distance this year

MANCHESTER --  With 11 losses in their previous 16 games, the Manchester Silkworms have been in desperate need of a life preserver in their quest for a fifth straight NECBL Southern Division playoff berth.

Saturday night, the visiting Danbury Westerners threw them one....more

MANCHESTER – It was so quiet at Northwest Park after the top of the ninth, you could hear a crumpled baseball bingo card land in the grass....more
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Acosta Goes Eight; Micowski On Base Four Times

MANCHESTER –  Jeff Cammans (Jamestown, RI/URI) didn’t start Monday’s make-up game against North Adams, but his single with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth ended it....more
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Micowski Scored Two; Drove in Game Winner

Knight and Bender combine on One-Hitter as Pittsfield Wins Seventh Straight

MANCHESTER –  After five years of last place finishes, the Pittsfield Dukes have jammed it in reverse and hit the gas. The first place Dukes gave Manchester a 6-1 spanking at Northwest Park Thursday night, and have now won seven straight, 11 of 12 and are 17-3 following a seven-game losing streak that found them at 5-8 on June 25th.....more
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Holyoke, MA- The aphorism says “Revenge is a dish best served cold.”  The Manchester Silkworms opted to serve it ugly on a beautiful warm night at Holyoke in a 6-5 win over the host Blue Sox that was truly a team effort....more
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Southington Native Perfect Through 5 2/3

MANCHESTER –  The moon was full and home plate umpire Barry Chasen’s strike zone was wide, but Nick Greenwood was near perfect in a 6-1 win over the sputtering Silkworms Tuesday night at Northwest Park....more
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All-Star Game’s starting pitcher subdues floundering Silkworms, 12-1

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – Tim Boyce of North Adams has been selected as the starting pitcher for the Southern Division a week from Sunday in the annual NECBL All-Star Game. Saturday night – for the second time this year -- Boyce showed the Manchester Silkworms why....more
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They are limited to five hits by Bats in dropping sixth game in last eight

KEENE, N.H. -- With the NECBL season heading into the final third of the regular season this weekend, plenty of time remains for the Manchester Silkworms to play themselves into a Southern Division playoff berth.

And also enough time to play themselves out....more
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Oskandy Goes the Distance for Last Place Westerners

MANCHESTER –  This one should have been money for the Silkworms.

Danbury came into the game with an NECBL worst record of 5-18 and had lost six of its last seven games, including a pair of games to the Silkworms in Danbury – an 11-2 drubbing on July 2 and a 12-11 giveaway Sunday night....more
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Silkworms Deal All-Americans their Sixth Straight Loss

LOWELL, MA –  Ryan Piacentini (Portland, ME/Trinity College) hit a two-run homer to break a 2-2 tie in the 11th and  J.J. Potrikus( N Syracuse, NY/SUNY Cortland) got the final three outs as the Silkworms beat the All-Americans 4-3 Wednesday night at Stoklosa Alumni Field in Lowell...more
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MANCHESTER –  Dan Mahoney was just doing his job when he struck out the Silkworms in order in the bottom of the ninth. But to anyone left in the announced crowd of 415 at Northwest Park Tuesday night, he must have looked like a playground bully...more
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Newport, RI- Ryan Wiegand hit a one out, walk-off pinch hit singlein the ninth inning tonight, scoring Jet Butler.  That tells the entire story of Newport’s 1-0 win over Manchester tonight.

And it doesn’t even begin to tell the story....more

SteepleCats erase three-run deficit to record NECBL Southern Division win

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. –  The odds are better than even that in just under a month,  the Manchester  Silkworms will be opening up in the NECBL Southern Division  playoff semifinals.

 The odds of them reaching that point in convincing fashion are considerable lower, however. more....

Dukes wake up in seventh, score five times to gain NECBL Southern Division win

PITTSFIELD, Mass. – Ineffective middle and late-inning relief continues to prevent the Manchester Silkworms from gaining momentum and moving closer to the top of the Southern Division standings. Friday night, Pittsfield erased a late four-run deficit by scoring five runs against three pitchers in the bottom of the seventh inning to post a 6-5 victory before a delighted capacity crowd on Fireworks Night at Waconah Park....more
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Anarumo Makes A Pitch; Grosso (3 for 4) Starts Winning Rally

MANCHESTER –  Mike Anarumo threw one pitch, recorded two outs and came away the winning pitcher as Manchester beat North Adams 6-5 . It was a defining moment at Northwest Park on a drizzly Thursday night that had several....more

Twisters Stun Silkworms With Seven Unanswered Runs

MANCHESTER –  Dazed and Confused.

That was the feeling for many of the 483 at Northwest Park Monday as Torrington scored seven times in last two innings to erase a 6-0 Manchester lead and take a 7-6 victory back to the Northwest corner of the state.

The Twisters scored three times in the eighth and added four more in the ninth to stun the Silkworms in their own yard....more

In first of three straight games against Twisters, Manchester limits them to six hits

TORRINGTON –  What this six-hit pitching performances lacked in efficiency, it made up for in timeliness.

Sunday night, four Manchester  pitchers combined on one of the most atypical six-hitters in franchise history, and the Silkworms came from behind twice to snap five-game overall and road losing streaks in a 6-3 NECBL Southern Division win over the Torrington Twisters before a reported crowd numbering 911 at Fuessenich Park....more

Dukes strike often in middle innings as Manchester’s losing streak hits five

MANCHESTER – The timing was impeccable. Impeccably poor.

With the Manchester Silkworms struggling to climb out a hole which had dropped them under the .500 mark, the Pittsfield Dukes buried them deeper with an 11-0 New England Collegiate Baseball League Southern Division destruction of the Silkies Saturday night at Northwest Park....more

8th Inning Blast from Holyoke finishes the Worms

MANCHESTER –  James Wood hit a two-run home run in the eighth inning as Holyoke overcame a 3-0 deficit and beat Manchester 7-3 Friday night in front of 474 at Northwest Park.

Wood, who entered the game in the sixth inning as a pinch hitter, drove in five of the Blue Sox seven runs. Holyoke starter Brandon Joseph (1-1) hit the first two batters he faced and watched both of them score in a Manchester’s three-run first inning, but did not allow another run and cruised to a complete game victory...more

Tonight’s 1-0 loss to theNorth Shore Navigators was the first game of an 18 day stretch where the Silkworms will play every night.  Manchester’s next scheduled off day is not until July 14th.  Arms will be sorely tested for the next 2 ½weeks and starter Pendergast did his part to lessen the bullpen’s load in a heartbreaker.  The tall righty allowed just four base runners in seven innings. At one point Pendergast, who fanned three on the evening, retired 12 Navigators in a row....more

MANCHESTER –  Sanford’s Steve Brooks hit solo homerun in the top of the ninth to break a 3-3 tie, giving the Mainers a come from behind, 4-3 victory over the Silkworms Tuesday night at Northwest Park...more

Manchester’s only hit comes in eighth inning of 8-1 loss to Sanford

SANFORD, Maine – The fact that Manchester had twice as many errors as hits Saturday night against Sanford was more of a testament to the pitching of Mainer righty Pat Lehman than it was to any fielding deficiencies on the part of the Silkworms...more

by Bob Molta and Paul Ofria/Silkworm Sports Information Dept
MANCHESTER –  Matt O'Brien (Hingham, MA/Holy Cross and Boston College) and  James Kukucka (Vernon, CT/Eastern Connecticut)combined on a five-hitter for the Silkworms' first shutout of Keene in the franchise's nine-year history as Manchester knocked off the Northern Division-leading Keene 4-0 Friday night at Northwest Park....more

Four Run Third Helps Sink Navigators, 8-4

MANCHESTER – The Silkworms bats woke up Tuesday night, giving starting pitcher Nick Noblit (Westfield, MA/AIC) a 5-1 lead with four runs in the third inning, then cruised to an 8-4 win in front of 224 at Northwest Park....more

TORRINGTON, Conn. – The Manchester Silkworms play only one of their final 34 regular-season games at Fuessenich Park against the Torrington Twisters.  No one wearing green and gold is complaining about that....more

Home runs sink Silkworms, who are limited to three hits in  Southern Division loss

TORRINGTON, Conn.  –  Although the Manchester Silkworms did not report to Fuessenich Park Friday night wearing long white coats and carrying black bags, their appearance was just what the doctor ordered for the struggling Torrington Twisters....more

Grosso Delivers, Worms Beat Gulls 3-1

MANCHESTER – The local kid was all smiles. And why not? Matt Grosso (Notre Dame/Marlborough, CT) continued his roll through the NECBL, breaking a 1-1 tie with a two-out, two run, game winning double in the seventh inning as the Silkworms beat Newport 3-1 Thursday night at Northwest Park...more

MANCHESTER - The NECBL is officially on notice: Pittsfield is undefeated. Ok, its season is just four games old, but consider the Dukes are coming off a pair of 13-win seasons, preceded by an 11-win campaign in 2005 and there is reason to pay attention.

On Tuesday night, the Dukes won their fourth straight game,beating the Silkworms 4-2 at Northwest Park in front of a crowd of 315.....more

SILKWORMS STRIKE OUT AGAINST NORTH ADAMS, WIN 3-2

NORTH ADAMS, Mass.  – In a game where strikeouts proved to be offensive weapons, the Manchester Silkworms scored three unearned runs thanks in large part to two throwing errors and a wild pitch, and rode the superb pitching of Jeremiah Bayer (Greenfield, MA/Trinity) for a 3-2 NECBL victory over the North Adams SteepleCats before an announced crowd of 812 Sunday night at Joe Wolfe Field......More

MANCHESTER, Conn. – It’s wasn’t pretty, but it was a win. – a  season-opening win for the Manchester Silkworms, who survived six errors and a 65-minute lightning delay to turn back the Torrington Twisters by a score of 9-7 Saturday night in their NECBL opener in front of a crowd of 775 at Northwest Park....more

6 Silkworms Selected in Two Days of 2008 MLB Amatuer Draft

Six former Manchester Silkworms were.selected in the recently completed Major League Baseball Amateur draft.  The draft was held over two days: June 5thand 6th.

The 2008 draft continues the strong pipeline from Mancheste rinto professional baseball.  For the fifth consecutive draft, at least six former Silkworms have been selected.  A record eight Silkworms were selected in last year’s amateur draft.

The 2008 Silkworms open their campaign on Saturday, June 7th, when they host the intra-state rival Torrington Twisters. All home games are at 7 p.m.at Northwest Park on Tolland Turnpike.

The following lists each of the 2008 Silkworm draftees.  The selecting team, round and number in which they were selected follow each player.

Ryan Lavarnway (Boston/6th/202nd)-Ranked as one of Baseball America’s top 200 prospectsgoing into the draft, the Yale standout catcher led Division I with a .467 batting average in 2007.  The Golden Spikes finalist missed eleven games of the season with an injury, but still hit.398 while clubbing 13 homers and slugging .824.  As a Silkworm, the first-team NECBL All-Starhit .313 with 15 extra base hits and 22 RBI. He had an on base percentage of .462.

Justin Greene (ChicagoWhite Sox/20th/600th) - A multi-tooled outfielder, Greene hit .292, slugged.392 and stole 17 bases in his 2006 summer at Silk City.  An all-South Atlantic region selection for Francis Marion this season, Greene batted .384, averaged scoring a run pergame, hit eight homers and stole 16 bases while leading the Patriots to a finaltop 30 ranking in Division II.

 Drew Garcia (Chicago White/21st/630th)-The UC Riversidesecond baseman.  Garcia’s grandfather, Dave, managed the California Angels and Cleveland Indians between 1977 and 1982.  His father, also named Dave, was once a first round pick of the New York Yankees.  An NECBL all-star in 2005, Garcia hit .279 with 18 RBI and made just one error at second. He also played for Manchester in 2006.  At UC Riverside, Garcia was afirst team all conference selection thanks to a .344 average, four homers and a stellar .978 fielding percentage.

 T.J. Baxter (Baltimore/24th/716th)-  Limited to just nine games with the 2007 Silkworms becauseof an injury, Baxter brought a blue collar, hard-nosed toughness to the ballclub.  He hit .235 with 3 RBI in his time with Silk City. The senior outfielder hit .315, slugged .563 and stole 19 bases this season for the University of New Orleans.

 Kyle Higgins (Texas/31st/933rd)- The shortstop started all but one game for the 2007 Silkworms, when he hit .217 with eight extra base hits and eleven stolen bases.  The Monmouth University product was the 2008 Northeast Conference Player of the Year thanks to a .389 average, 51 runsscored and 20 extra base hits.

 Nick Christiani (Cleveland/32nd/981st)-One of the hardestthrowers in recent Mancheste rmemory, Christiani posted a minuscule 2.29 ERA in eleven appearances during the2006 summer.  The NECBL All-Star had a2-0 record, two saves and struck out 39 in 35.1 innings.  He was a mainstay in nationally rankedVanderbilt’s rotation this year, as he made 12 starts, put up a 6-3 record andfanned 65 in 76 innings of work.

 The entire Manchester Silkworm organization and family extend their congratulations andbest wishes to all of the draftees!

The Manchester Silkworms are a proud member of the New EnglandCollegiate Baseball League (NECBL), one of the nation’s premier wooden-batsummer leagues.  The Silkworms have had 41 alumni drafted by Major League Baseball and have sent three alumni to theMajors.  For more information on these draftees or other Silkworms, please contact GM Ed Slegeski (SilkwormsGM@aol.com) or Don Leypoldt in SportsInformation.