The New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) announces the Week 1 Player & Pitcher of the Week honors including honorable mentions for the week concluding on Sunday, June 8th.

Keene SwampBats player Zack Thompson (Mercer) and Ocean State pitcher Corey Kling (South Florida) have been named the New England Collegiate Baseball League’s (NECBL) Player and Pitcher of the Week for week 1 of the 2025 regular season.

Thompson has been seeing the ball incredibly well to begin the season, hitting three home runs in Keene’s first four games of the season, helping them reach a 3-1 record to start off the summer. On top of that, Thompson is batting .429 with six hits and four RBI in just four games played. Thompson kicked off the season with a bang as he hit two of his three home runs on opening day against the Westerners

Transferring from Gordon State Community College, Thomspon joined Mercer to start the 2025 season. At Gordon State, Mercer played two seasons, batting .337, driving in 56 runs as well as scoring 50 in his sophomore season. As Mercer as a junior, Thompson batted .247, recording three homers, twenty-two RBIs, and scoring nineteen runs.

On the other side of the ball for Ocean State, Kling started against the North Adams Steeplecats on June 5th, facing twelve batters and striking out half of them. Kling racked up six strikeouts, 0 hits, and 0 ER last Thursday, securing his spot for the NECBL pitcher of the week. 

In his recent season at USF, Kling made eight appearances, all in relief as a true freshman. Kling posted a 1.93 ERA, holding opposing batters to a .125 average and racking up eight strikeouts. Kling did not allow a run in six of his eight appearances, proving himself a reliable asset for South Florida’s bullpen, along with Ocean State! 

Week 1 Honor Roll - Position Players

Tyler Bak (Valley-OF, Wofford)

Anthony Belisario (Mystic-UTIL, UConn)

Garrett Larson (Danbury-OF, Yale)

Gabriel Tirado (Danbury-C, UConn)

Week 1 Honor Roll - Pitchers

Gregory Shaw (Valley-RHP, Uconn) 

Flynn Howard (Upper Valley- RHP, Merrimack) 

Aaron Potter (Upper Valley- RHP, North Florida) 

Ben Rabatin (Keene- RHP, Kent State) 

The New England Collegiate Baseball League is a wooden bat college summer league that fields teams in all six New England states. Partially funded by Major League Baseball, the New England League started play in 1994 and has sent over 230 alumni to the Major Leagues with nearly 30 alumni taken in the first round of the MLB Draft. For continuing coverage of the NECBL, visit NECBL.com and follow the league on Twitter, Instagram and on Facebook.