Chris Costantino (Walters St CC) was named the New England Collegiate Baseball League’s 2011 Rick Ligi Most Valuable Player for his two-way contributions to the Laconia Muskrats’ summer run to the Championship Series.
Costantino played the field for 35 regular season games and four postseason games for Laconia, along with ten starts on the mound for the Muskrats, including two postseason appearances. At the plate, Costantino hit .303 in the regular season, and jumped up to .375 as the Muskrats’ second-best source of offense in the playoffs.
Even more notable this season was Costantino’s performance on the bump. After starting out a rough 0-3, Costantino turned things around in a big way, finishing the regular season with three-straight wins. On July 17th, Costantino threw the League’s fifth-ever no-hitter against Keene. He followed that up with a 14-strikeout outing against New Bedford, the most strikeouts for a starter in a game this season.
The strikeouts piled up for Costantino all summer. His 60 punchouts in the regular season led all starters. He then added 20 more in the playoffs, for a grand total of 80 K’s, nine off the all-time League high set by Ryan Mullins in 2003.
The significance of the Rick Ligi MVP award is not lost on Costantino, a native of Lincoln, Rhode Island. Ligi, a former URI baseball player, passed away in the summer of 1995 after his freshman year
Costantino was also placed on the 2011 All-NECBL Second Team, one of just two Eastern Division pitchers to receive All-League honors. He was the Muskrats’ lone representative in the League’s 2011 season accolades.
The no-hitter thrown by Costantino against Keene could have easily been the biggest highlight of the Muskrats’ season and short, two-year history in Laconia. But the Swamp Bats and Muskrats weren’t finished with their battle for New Hampshire, which they took all the way to the NECBL Championship.
In just their second year in the City on the Lakes, the Muskrats were crowned the NECBL Eastern Division Champions. In one incredible week from July 31st to August 7th, Laconia went from just edging out New Bedford for the fourth-and-final playoff spot on their last day of the regular season, to celebrating at home as the last team standing in the East.
Laconia finished the regular season with a record of 18-24, a slight fall from last summer’s 20-22 mark, but still good enough for the exact same result as 2010; beating out New Bedford for fourth place in the season’s final games. The Muskrats accomplished the feat this year through adversity.
Through the season’s final weekend and on to their three playoff series, the Muskrats made due with just one available player on the bench and a four-man pitching rotation. Laconia lost the likes of LB Dantzler (State College of Florida), all-star second baseman and .300 hitter, Chris Burke (Iona), all-star DH and top-five in the League in stolen bases, Chad Wallach (Cal St Fullerton), Kevin Sah (Howard JC), Damien Magnifico (Howard JC), Charlie Steinman (Georgetown) and Corey Taylor (Harford CC) to injury or academic obligations in the final weeks of the season.
Yet, the remaining Muskrats formed a bond that only the Keene Swamp Bats could match, as chemistry played a large role in driving both teams toward the Championship.
The Laconia roster was defiantly confident about their first-round match up with the top-seeded Newport Gulls; in fact, it’s exactly what they wanted. On Monday, August 1st, the team had a chance at climbing to third place in the East in a rain makeup game in Sanford. In a rare instance, it was a good thing the team lost. The boys in Muskrat blue knew what they were doing with that final playoff spot.
With Justin Wiley (Iona) set up on full rest to start Game 1 of the series in Newport, Laconia had the Gulls right where they wanted them. Wiley was 2-0 against Newport in the regular season, including a win at Cardines Field in Rhode Island, with a 2.71 ERA and 13 strikeouts in three appearances.
Though Wiley didn’t get the win in Game 1 of the series, everything went according to plan, as he held Newport to three runs. Laconia won 4-3 and would hand Costantino the ball at home for the knockout punch. With that, the team that rode a 12-game win streak to the best record in the NECBL (29-13) exited the playoffs for the first time in their 11-year history. Laconia swept the series against the number one Gulls 2-0.
Far less planning went into the Muskrats’ second round sweep of the Sanford Mainers, partly because of everything that went into winning the franchise’s first-ever playoff series, and partly because the Muskrats expected to see the North Shore Navigators. But the three-seed Mainers met Laconia in the Eastern Division Final. The two lower seeds would throw their three and four starters, and it was anyone’s series.
But Laconia stayed hot against a team they beat four out of six times in the regular season. Contributions came from everywhere; Dylan Kelly (Middle Georgia College) led the offense in the series, going 4-7 with a home run and three RBI. Bijan Rademacher (Cal St Fullerton) had the game-winning RBI in both games, giving him three in the postseason. Regan Flaherty (Vanderbilt) hit his first three homers of the season in the playoffs. John Ziznewski (Rockland CC) account for a quarter of Laconia’s runs scored by himself.
A run to the Championship Series and Costantino’s excellence were certainly the biggest storylines of the 2011 season for the Laconia Muskrats, but weren’t the only highlights.
The Muskrats got six players into the 2011 NECBL All-Star Game on July 27th. Prior to his departure due to injury, Dantzler was named the starting second baseman for the East. Burke was the starting DH. Due to a starter’s injury and his impression on Newport Manager Mike Coombs, Justin Wiley was named the starting pitcher for the East. Kelly, Costantino, and Will Johnson (Vanderbilt) each represented Laconia in the game as well, as the East got a 3-1 win.
Though Team USA didn’t visit Robbie Mills Field, as they did many other venues around the League on an exhibition tour, a couple of Muskrats got to see them up close and personal. Chad Wallach and Damien Magnifico had only combined to play two games for the Muskrats before being whisked off to Fenway Park to face Team USA as a part of the NECBL Select Team on June 27th. Representatives from each team were decided prior to the season and based on college statistics. Magnifico hurled a scoreless eighth inning, turning heads as he touched 98 MPH on the radar gun, and Team NECBL defeated Team USA 3-2.
The second week of July brought dramatics to Robbie Mills Field, as the Muskrats celebrated three walk-off wins at home in a span of five days. Dantzler ended a six-hour game, which featured a three-hour rain delay and extra innings, against New Bedford with a home run that came in the early hours of July 7th. Ziznewski did the honors on July 10th with a walk off single that ended a wild game against Sanford. And Flaherty was the hero July 11th against the Raging Tide with a sacrifice fly.
It wasn’t apparent that Laconia would later be the Eastern Division Champs from their early match ups with the upstart Old Orchard Beach Raging Tide. For the team that finished with a 9-33 record, at one point in the season the Muskrats had given the Raging Tide three of their four wins. Laconia salvaged the season series at three games apiece.
The Boston Red Sox’ Wally the Green Monster even made an appearance at a Muskrats’ game this season. In fact, Wally was in the house for Costantino’s no-hitter on July 17th for Mascot Madness Night. You can bet Laconia General Manager Noah Crane is in talks to get Wally at every Muskrats game in 2012!
The summer started with news of nine players with Muskrats affiliations being selected in the 2011 MLB Drafted. Casey Kalenkosky, who led the Muskrats in RBI in 2010, was taken by Washington in the 13th round. Kalenkosky was third in the NCAA in home runs this spring. Jarett Miller, John Polonius, Derek Trent and Garrett Jewell, who all factored for Laconia last summer, were 2011 MLB draftees. Signing just before last week’s deadline, Chris Costantino made official his 43rd-round selection by the St. Louis Cardinals, and reported for Rookie Camp in Florida following the Championship Series.
Of course, there was the tremendous support and community growth around the Muskrats this summer. With the announcement last week that the Muskrats will definitely be back next summer, and some planned additions to Robbie Mills Field that will enhance the fan experience, expect Muskrat Nation to continue to grow and reach new highs. It also doesn’t hurt that the Muskrats played at a championship level.
Thanks to all the fans who came out and showed their appreciation for Muskrats baseball in the summer of 2011! There wouldn’t be NECBL Baseball in the Lakes Regions without you! The best fans in the League reside in the top state in the League, as New Hampshire owns the Fay Vincent Trophy. Congratulations to the Laconia Muskrats, the 2011 NECBL Eastern Division Champions. See you next summer Laconia!
