Offensive outburst powers April turnaround

The NECC Knights baseball team bounced back in a big way during the month of April.  They entered the month having only gone 4-11 to start the season, according to information made available on the NECC athletic page, and in need of a winning streak in the worst kind of way. Well that’s exactly what they got. They have gone 14-3 with one game left to play in the month of April against University of Connecticut at Avery Point on the 30th.  This month of scorching hot play has put them at 18-14 on the year, with a 9-4 record for conference play. The key to this turnaround seems to be an unstoppable offense that has been putting up mind boggling numbers. So far in the month of April they have averaged a shade over 14 runs a game.

They only failed to get double digit runs 4 times, one less time than they managed over to score over 20 runs. This offensive outburst was highlighted by two players being name the National Junior College’ Athletic Association player of the week.  Sophomore Infielder Leo Romero of Lawrence, MA won the first one for the week of April 1st to 7th. During this week he went 9 of 11 with 3 home runs and knocking in 13 runs, according to stats kept by NECC athletics, leading the Knights to a perfect 3-0 to start off the month. That was followed by Freshman do-everything man Spencer Brown of Beverly, MA putting on an all-around showcase for the week of April 15-21.  During this week he was a force of nature,  going 13 for 19, knocking in 17 runs and hitting 7 home runs. Of those 7 home runs, 6 came on one day in a doubleheader  sweep against Massasoit Community college, according to the NECC athletic page.

In addition to his work at the plate, he also pitched 3 innings during one of the games against Massasoit and picked up the win, to cap off a truly remarkable week. NECC will look to keep the momentum going int the month of May. A 9-4 conference record has them right in the thick of the playoff race, and a stellar May will be all they need to extend their season. If the offense keeps up the pace, that’ll surely be an easy task for the team to accomplish. 

Rising sport finds a place at Northern Essex

Back in November of 2018 Northern Essex announced the addition of three new sports to their athletic department: Men’s soccer, Women’s basketball, and, most interesting among the three, an Esports team. The Esports will be a multiplayer video game team that compromises of online multiplayer games, according to the Northern Essex athletic page.  It will have student-athletes from Northern Essex compete together to defeat other institutions teams in the online multiplayer games  Esports has been a sports on the rise in the past couple years, as companies keep throwing and more money in the competition. It has become a billion dollar industry, in which people that once just played game with their friends can now become millionaires with their skills on the sticks, according to a report done by CNN. 

The sport has evolved from mostly being centered on sports video games, such as the Madden football and NBA 2K series, to now being more focused on first person shooters and battle royale style games, such as Call of Duty, Fortnight, League of legends, Counter Strike among others. The sports can still be considered in its infancy and will likely just continue to expand at an exponentially increasing rate.  Developers and publishers are continuously increasing their cash flow into the sport, through both sponsorships and hosting tournaments.  The prestige of sponsoring a winning Esports team has been likened to sponsoring a winning Nascar team. 

This helps ensure a healthy flow of money into the sport as big name companies jostle to give the best teams money. The team will be coached by RJ Warnock, a NECC alum who played baseball while here as well as being  a high ranking Fortnite player. Warnock starred in baseball here, and will be looking for similar success whilst coaching.  The team will have two different teams that compete in the ever popular game Fortnite, as well as the cult classic League of Legends, according to Warnock.  They will compete against other schools in these games, with the possibility of expanding to more games in the future, pending the success of the team. It will be very exciting to watch the Northern Essex team grow along with the sport.

NECC Inaugural Hall of fame induction first of many to come

NECC had its first hall of fame induction on Thrusday February 28th. The inductees were the 1970-71 men’s basketball team and former track and field star Noelia Figuereo. Figuereo was a two-time National Juinor College National champion while at Northern Essex; in first the 200 meter in 2010, and then the 100 meter in 2011. After her successful career at NECC she transferred to Merimack, where she continued to run track and ultimatey earned a master’s in education, according to Ernie Greensdale in NECC public relations. The 1970-71 men’s basketball team completed the season with a 21-6 record, along with being crowned the Massachusetts Community College champions as well as the Eastern Massachusetts Small College Conference Championship, according to the NECC Knights athlectic page.  It was a special moment for the team, who were able to unite after over 45 years of last playing together.

This may not be the last NECC hall of fame induction for one of the members of this storied team. Joe Tardiff, the current head coach of the NECC men’s basketball tea, was also a member of 1970-71 team. There’s a good chance that Tardiff becomes NECC’s first double inductee, as both a member of this team and also for the coaching career he is currently embarked on. This was NECC’s first Hall of Fame induction, an event that they plan on repeating every year. They will go forward with an open noimination process, according to athlectic director Dan Blair.

Robbie Quinlan seized opportunities for growth NECC basketball offered

Robbie Quinlan is a 6’4” second year player for the Northern Essex Knights basketball team. He’s an extremely versatile player that splits time between the guard and forward spots, despite being the team’s tallest player according to their posted roster. Upon his graduation from NECC, he intends to attend and play for Plymouth State. That will be his 3rd year playing college basketball, which 3 more years than he played for varsity basketball in high school. Quinlan attended North Andover High and graduated in 2016 with no years of basketball played.

The reason wasn’t talent or academics, but rather behaivoral issues and immaturity. He was homeschooled until seventh grade and sometimes did things to fit in that would get him in trouble. This resulted in a suspension at one point and being blackballed from high school sports, despite his obvious talent. Instead of continuing down this dark path, Quinlan decided to rectify his past mistakes.

He more than redeemed himself during his two years at NECC. His first year, he was one of the first guys to come off the bench for a very goood basketball team,despite having played next to none high-level organized basketball the previous three years.  He had also changed as a person, making much more responsible and healthy decisions for himself. His second year playing got off to a good start, but a stress fracture in his foot ended his season prematurely.

This was symbolic of the Knights disapointing 10-18 season, that they will look to bounce back from. Unfortunately for them it will be without Quinlan,  as he will be taking his talents to Plymouth State. His growth as a basketball player while at NECC is only matched by his growth as a person while here.  This was evident when he was asked about his experience as a NECC athlete, to which he repled, “Skills such as discipline and teamwork have taught me many lessons throughout my two seasons with this program. Coach Tardiff did so much to develop my ability as basketball player, but did even more to help develop me as a man off the court.”

This well though out and articulate response shows the heightened awareness and character development that Quinlan accrued while at NECC.  No more trying to be the class clown. Instead he is focused on basketball and academics. One would expect that he will continue to develop as man, and as basketball player, at his next stop. If it that turns out to be so, the Plymouth State has found itself a diamond in the rough.

Former Northern Essex star raising profile and catching eyes

Ex-Knight Evan Glew has continued the upward trajectory of his pitching career. The 22 year old southpaw from North Andover has done well enough to even garner some attention from big league scouts. None of this seemed remotely possible just 5 years ago. That’s because, in his fourth year of high school, Glew had yet to make his high school debut. Grades and attendance had made him academically ineligible for three years running. A switch to night school better accommodated his academics and the absence of the migraines that once plagued him allowed for an improvement in his attendance.

Getting on the field proved to be the hard part for Glew, as evident by his performance in his debut season for the North Andover Knights. He was a strikeout machine from the start and only got better as his first season progressed, leading the North Andover Scarlet Knights to state semi-finals.Then a 5th year of high school was granted by MIAA. Once again he dominated, going 10-1 with a E.R.A of 1.29 and compiling over a 100 strikeouts, according to records kept by former teammate Maxwell Guertin. He seemed to prove that the previous year was no fluke and his arm was the real deal.

Still, there were concerns about his ability to handle a college course load after a turbulent academic career in high school. No big schools wanted to risk a scholarship on someone that had only two years of high school ball to his name. Some would have pouted and pitied themselves. But not Glew. He used the rejection for fuel.

In 2016 he enrolled at our fine institution, Northern Essex Community College. His profile continued to grow as he continued to pitch with a chip on his shoulder. He was electric going 9-1 with a ERA of 2.63 and compiling 79 strikeouts in 72 innings pitched. In addition he also recorded 4 saves while pitching in relief, according to the Northern Essex Athletics page. He headlined a dominant pitching staff for the knights as they went all the way to the national finals, before succumbing to perennial contender Texas-Tyler after a valiant battle.

He continued to excite and impress during his second go around at Northern Essex. They seemed to be heading for another finals appearance before being disqualified for a fight that took place during the Regional Finals. It was a sour note for Glew to end his NECC career on, but he was ready to move on to the next stage of his career.

In addition to his on the field dominance, he had also continued his development as an academic weapon during his 2 years at Northern Essex, so well that he not only received an athletic scholarship, but also a partial academic one. As a Franklin Pierce Raven Glew  compiled a 5-1 record with an E.R.A of 3.33 and 42 strikeouts in his first season for the Division II powerhouse, per their athletic site.He looks to improve upon that and show that he belongs at the next level during his senior year.

When pondering his future he had had this to say: “Baseball is what I love and know best. It has opened many doors in life for me and I’m very thankful for the game. I plan on playing or coaching for as long as I can.” There started to be whispers of him getting a shot to make a career out of this game. He always knew that he would. The only question was: Would it be as a player or as a coach? It’s starting to look like the playing part is going to last some time after college.

He showed improved velocity, with his fastball starting to touch the low 90s for the first time consistently. Add in a nastily unique 12-7 circle change, and it starts to be more believable that he has legitimate big league stuff.  He still has long odds to be able to pitch for a living. There’s no sugarcoating that. He also had long odds to get to where he is now.  So succeeding even further would just be keeping with the precedence already set.