The New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) announces the Week 4 Player & Pitcher of the Week honors, including honorable mentions for the week concluding on Sunday, June 29th.

Vermont first baseman Jaylen Hernandez (Winthrop) and Ocean State left hander Sal Valenzuela (Pima CC) take home the awards this week, each contributing in big ways to help their teams earn victories.

Ocean State and Vermont faced off in a doubleheader on Sunday, with Valenzuela getting the start for game one. He went four innings, allowing just one hit while striking out three en route to an 8-1 Waves victory. Game two was all Vermont however, as the Mountaineers jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first. Hernandez finished the game 3-4 with a double and run scored, leading Vermont to a 5-2 victory. 

Both Valenzuela and Hernandez had big games earlier in the week as well, with Valenzuela tossing a three-inning, no-hit performance against the Bristol Blues, striking out six in the outing. Meanwhile, Hernandez has hits in five of his last six appearances, with four of them being multi-hit games as he also blasted a clutch seventh-inning two-run home run in a tight 5-4 win over the Valley Blue Sox last Friday. 

Valenzuela’s Waves sit at .500 with a 10-10 record, sitting three games behind the Newport Gulls in a tight South Division battle. Hernandez’s Mountaineers sit at 7-12 but in third place of five teams, all .500 or below, and are currently battling the juggernaut Keene SwampBats. 

Both teams enjoy a day off and return to the diamond on July 1st as Vermont will have a chance to improve its postseason chances in a tilt against the Upper Valley Nighthawks at 6 pm, while Valenzuela and Ocean State host the Bristol Blues at 6:30 pm. 

Week 4 Honor Roll - Position Players

Conlan Daniel (Vermont-CF, Wright State)

Ty Mainolfi (Keene-2B/OF, Boston College)

Luke Nomura (Bristol-SS/2B, Fairfield)

Ryan Novak (Newport-OF/1B, Miami of Ohio)

Garrett Larsen (Danbury-OF/IF, Yale)

Matthew Bolton (Newport-OF, Binghamton)

Gavin Schrader (Valley-RF/1B, Troy)

Nick Monile (Upper Valley-OF, North Florida)

Week 4 Honor Roll - Pitchers

Andrew Abler (Martha’s Vineyard, Harvard)

Jake Andrews (Valley, Mount St. Mary’s)

Ross Felder (Martha’s Vineyard, Arkansas)

Finbar O’Brien (Newport, Gonzaga)

Brendan Yagesh (Bristol, Virginia Tech)

Matthew Heyl (Martha’s Vineyard, Stetson)

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.