NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – Winnipesaukee slugger Po-Hao Huang (Fu Jen Catholic University) and Keene righty Griff McGarry (Virginia) have been named the New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) Player and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for their efforts on the diamond for Week 5 of the 2018 season.
Huang put together what can only be considered one of the best seven-day stretches in recent league memory, at the very least in terms of his power figures, as he skyrocketed into sole possession of first place in the league’s home run race. The infielder blasted an eye-popping nine long balls in six games while driving in a league-most 17 runs. He finished 12-for-25 at the plate altogether (.480) while scoring nine runs himself. Huang had a hit in all of the six games he played in, with four games featuring two or more hits; he homered at least once in every one of those contests, with the highlight of the week being a three-homer, seven-RBI game one night after a two-homer, five-RBI performance.
On the summer, the rising senior at Fu Jen Catholic University now boasts a .370 batting average that would rank third overall in the league if he averaged the minimum qualifying figure for the league leader board. Regardless of that, his 11 home runs are now three more than the next-closest player in the league, while his 20 RBIs are one why of the top-eight. He has 20 hits overall and 13 runs scored.
McGarry, who has been valuable out of the bullpen for the Swamp Bats, had his best outing yet in a huge victory over Mystic last week. While the final score read 8-7 in favor of Keene, it was McGarry’s five scoreless innings out of the bullpen that paved the way for their wild comeback from down seven runs. He struck out more than double the innings he threw, fanning 11 over five frames with four walks and no hits yielded.
McGarry pushed his ERA down to 2.32 on the summer while he improved to 3-0 in eight appearances – all in relief – while striking out 32 compared to only 13 hits and eight walks. His WHIP moved to an impressive 1.09 after that outing, as well. The rising sophomore at UVA got his first taste of the upper echelon of college baseball as a true freshman, making 11 appearances (2 starts) while striking out 22 over 17-2/3 innings.
The NECBL congrats both players on their accomplishments.
Week 5 Honor Roll
Joe Breaux (Keene/Alabama) – Had at least one hit in all six games last week, including four multi-hit performances. His 11 hits ranked third in the league as he finished with a .458 average with five runs, a double, a homer and four RBIs over that span.
A.J. Franklin (Upper Valley/Vanderbilt) – Was utilized four times last week out of the bullpen and came up big in just about every spot, getting 10 strikeouts over 5-2/3 innings while securing a league-leading two saves in that span.
Chris Gonzalez (Plymouth/Stetson) – Pitched his best start of the summer, going eight lights-out innings with only three hits and a walk allowed while fanning three to key the Pilgrims to a big 5-0 shutout win at Upper Valley.
Matthew Koperniak (North Adams/Trinity) – Pushed his hitting streak to 10 games with at least one hit in all six games last week. Batted .471 on the week (8-for-17) with six runs and a league-leading four doubles while also driving in four runs himself with three walks and no strikeouts.
Endy Morales (Valley/SNHU) – In a matchup of the two division leaders at the time, he came out on top with six stellar, scoreless innings in a 5-1 win over Plymouth. He fanned seven and worked around just two hits and a walk to lower his ERA to 1.23 on the summer (3rd/NECBL) while picking up his league-leading fourth victory.
Kumar Nambiar (Mystic/Yale) – Came up with a very quality start to lower his ERA to a microscopic (and still-league-leading) 0.31 on the summer after six scoreless innings over division-leading Plymouth on July 7. He struck out nine over that span with two hits and a walk.
Holden Powell (Newport/UCLA) – He struck out double the amount of innings he tossed, fanning 10 in a five-inning start that saw him earn an important win against Danbury.
Brandon Smith (Keene/Dayton) – Enjoyed his best week of the summer with a league-leading 13 hits, starting off with back-to-back four-hit games before another pair of two-hit performances. Also had three home runs and 12 RBIs to go along with eight runs scored.
Austin Wilhite (Upper Valley/Georgia Tech) – His first week with the Nighthawks was a memorable one, as he batted .471 with eight hits in 17 at-bats, including a pair of three-hit games. He also doubled twice and led the league with two triples while driving in seven runs and scoring six himself.
Chris Winkel (Mystic/Connecticut) – Finished the week with a team-leading eight hits in 18 at-bats (.444) while scoring six runs and bashing four extra-base hits, three of which were home runs. He also drove in eight runs, among the most in the league last week, while posting three multi-hit games.
