Following a season where the Blue Sox,  instead of battling for a playoff spot but rather trying not to finish in dead last in the Western Division, the expectations were high entering this summer.
For Holyoke a lot of changes occured within the organization since last season including the hiring of a new General Manager in Kirk Fredrikson, who has been in the league for now 15 years.
Fredrikson did not waste his time in assembling a team with players of high talent caliber and high character – the two keys to a successful season usually.
With players from across the country from USC, Stanford to Kennesaw State and even all the way up in Buffalo the team came together and bonded quickly in the few days allowed before the beginning of the season on June 8 at Mackenzie Stadium.
The Blue Sox started clicking almost immediately on the field as the squad started the season 6-1, and in first place of the Western Division, where the team would find itself the majority of the season.
Holyoke would finish the month of June with a mark of 9-3, the reason for the lack of games played was thanks to Mother Nature as the entire New England Collegiate Baseball League was affected.
With so many rain outs the month of July would prove to be challenging for even some of the best built teams in the NECBL.
The Blue Sox would be faced with four doubleheaders in the month, and three of those came in the span of five days. In all of the doubleheaders Holyoke finished 5-3 essentially splitting all of them except the set against the Mystic Schooners, which was a clean sweep.
Entering the All-Star break the Blue Sox were sitting just a half game out of first place behind the Keene Swamp Bats, who would eventually win the NECBL Championship in August.
Holyoke sent not one, two but seven players to the All-Star Game at Fraser Field in Lynn, Massachusetts.
After the All-Star game in which the East won 3-1, it was back to business for the Blue Sox as they looked to clinch their first regular season Western Division Pennant.
On the final day of the season it looked as though they had it, but because of a previous rainout the Swamp Bats had one more game left on their schedule while other teams were finished.
The Swamp Bats would win that final game which put them in a virtual tie for first place in the Western Division with the Blue Sox, but because Keene had taken the season series 4-2 against Holyoke the Swamp Bats took home the regular season pennant.
Entering the playoffs the Blue Sox were having their best season in franchise history and it continued in the playoffs as Holyoke swept Vermont right out of the way en route to its first Western Division Championship Series appearence.
The Blue Sox took the first game in extra innings at Alumni Field taking a 1-0 advantage in the three-game set, but the Swamp Bats would respond with a huge road victory tieing the series 1-1 heading into the final game.
Keene sent their ace to the mound in Jeff Thompson and he delivered in the 4-0 victory sending the Swamp Bats to the Championship series against Laconia and clinching the Western Division Championship at the same time.
For the Blue Sox their season was over, but there was no reason to hang their heads over a season where they had two pitchers finish 5-1 on the season, three players in the top five of offensive categories across the NECBL.
Ben Mount, pitcher out of USC, finished the season 6-1 with a complete game in the playoffs, and Brett Yarusi, pitcher out of Wesleyab College, was one of Holyoke’s best relievers on the season.
Mount is entering his senior campaign following a great season in Holyoke as he struck out 45 batters, which led the Blue Sox pitching staff, and recorded an ERA of only 1.36.
Desmon Paulson was another starting pitcher who was an ace for Holyoke as he finished the season 4-0 striking out 43 and will return to BYU for his junior season.
Yarusi finished the regular season 5-1 with a 1.30 ERA, and struck out 28 batters on the way to a quality season, and another pitcher that was Ryan Harvey out of Seton Hall. Harvey led the Blue Sox with six saves, struck out 29 batters in just 19 innings of work.
On the offensive side of the stat sheet multiple players lit up the scoreboard night in and night out at the stadium.
Trey Mancini a freshman out of Notre Dame University enter the summer coming off a spring where he led the Fighting Irish in multiple offensive categories and came up just short in the race for the Notre Dame Triple Crown.
Mancini would open eyes around the NECBL and would threaten the RBI record as he would come close, but not break it in the end as he finished the regular season with 34 RBIs and would tack on three more in the playoffs.
The Notre Dame product hit seven home runs along with nine doubles and two triples on the season.
Another dangerous hitter was Tom Murphy, who could not have had a better season considering his performance at the Team NECBL vs. Team USA game where he hit a solo home run over the Green Monster at Fenway Park.
Because of his performance there he was signed by Team USA for their series against Japan and after this it seemed as though Murphy came back with a new born fire in his bat. Following his stint with Team USA, Murphy went on a tear where he hit nine home runs in the short time that was left in the season.
Finally Ronnie Freeman another catcher, who came out of Kennesaw State, had himself a great season completing the one-two punch behind the dish along with Murphy.
Freeman led the team in batting average and doubles with a .373 batting average 12 doubles. The Kennesaw State product also raked in 25 RBIs and drew 17 walks as well.
With all of the great things that happened with the Blue Sox this season the players made everything, and helped the franchise reach new heights that were only a dream at one point but became a reality this summer.

Holyoke, MA – Every time the Swamp Bats have walked out of Mackenzie Stadium this season it has been with the same feeling – a sense of victroy.
The Blue Sox were unable to finish off the Swamp Bats on Sunday night as Keene took the second game of the three-game set, 8-5, to stay alive in  the 2011 NECBL Playoffs.
Two four-run outbursts in the fifth and seventh inning is all Keene needed to even the series and send it back to its home turf for a final showdown on Monday.
Brett DeLoach had himself a nice evening at the plate as he finished 2-for-3 driving in three runs on a double and triple.
Heading into the ninth inning it was an 8-3 lead for Keene, and the Blue Sox made a run at it but came up short as they were able to only scratch out two runs to bring the final score to 8-5.
With everything riding on Monday’s game, the Swamp Bats have saved their ace in Jeff Thompson to go to the mound and try and nail down the pennant and a trip to the championship. For the Blue Sox Chris Jenkins has gotten the nod for what could be the final game of the season, or just another step towards the season goal – a NECBL Championship.
First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Alumni Field, and the winner would face Laconia, who wrapped up the Eastern Title on Sunday with an 8-7 win against the Sanford Mainers.

Keene, NH – Playing on the road has not been a problem for the Blue Sox this season due to the fact that most of the stadiums they travel to have shorter dimensions than their home ballpark Mackenzie Stadium.
The Western Division Finals started at Alumni Field where the Blue Sox have seen success this season, but have also tasted defeat thanks to shorter fences at the home of the Swamp Bats.
Earlier in the evening the Laconia Muskrats and Sanford Mainers went into extra innings, and Holyoke and Keene decided to follow suit with a drama filled game which would take 10 innings to determine a winner.
Heading into the ninth inning, it looked as though the Swamp Bats were going to roll to an easy 9-4 series opening victory.
But the Blue Sox decided to add some drama to the playoffs as they chipped away slowly pulling the score to 9-5, and Justin Ringo stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and only one out.
Ringo, who had only hit one home run in the entire season, picked the perfect time to hit his second as the grand slam, the second for the Blue Sox this season, tied the game at nine apiece.
Keene would threaten in its half of the inning, but the game was destined for extra innings.
The Blue Sox would once again get the bases loaded in the tenth inning, and would score two runs without recording a single hit in the inning.
With the bases juiced Paul McConkey’s patience paid off as a 3-2 pitch from T. J. Ferguson’s payoff pitch missed outside and allowed Sam Eberle to cross the plate making it 10-9 Holyoke.
The Blue Sox would get another run given to them on a wild pitch from Anthony Cervone as his first delivery sailed over the head of the Keene catcher. Tom Murphy took advantage of this and raced home making it 11-9, which would be the final score.
Ryan Harvey, who came in the ninth inning, stayed on in the tenth to shut the door on the Swamp Bats and record the win for the Blue Sox.
The Blue Sox used three home runs to drive in eight of their 11 runs as Tom Murphy hit s two-run shot in the second inning to take a 2-0 lead.
Ronnie Freeman joined the party in the seventh inning with his own two-run shot, and of course Ringo was the hero with a grand slam to tie the game in the ninth inning.
Holyoke improves to a perfect 3-0 in the 2011 NECBL Playoffs and is one win away from a trip to the NECBL Championship series for the first time in franchise history.
Game two of this series will be played on Sunday at Mackenzie Stadium with the game starting at 6:35 p.m., and Desmond Paulson is starting the game for the Blue Sox as they look to clinch the Western Division Championship.

Holyoke, MA – The Blue Sox made easy work of the Vermont Mountaineers as it only took two games to take down the Mountaineers and advance to the Western Division Championship Series.
Holyoke was powered by the bat of Trey Mancini as he hit the eventual game-winning home run on Friday as his two-run blast in the ninth inning gave the Blue Sox some much needed insurance to clinch the series winning 4-1.
The Blue Sox did not need to go to their bullpen as Ben Mount pitched a complete game, striking out 11 batters and allowing only two hits in the entire game.
In the series opener on Wednesday there was some more drama than probably wanted as the Blue Sox held on to win the game 4-3, and it was thanks to Ryan Harvey, who came in and shut the door on a two-inning save, which was his sixth of the season.
Eric Smith finished the game 2-for-4 driving in two runs on the evening and was crucial in the eventual win.
The Blue Sox advance to the Western Division Championship Series and will face either the Danbury Westerners or Keene Swamp Bats, that series finale is tonight.
If Keene wins, the first game of the series will be at Alumni Field on Saturday at 6:30 p.m., but it Danbury wins the first game will be at Mackenzie Stadium instead on Saturday with the game starting at 6:35 p.m.

Here is the boxscore of the  season finale.

Blue Sox 9, Danbury 3 (Boxscore)

For the second time this season a Blue Sox player received some recognition for their hot hitting as on Monday the New England Collegiate Baseball League announced Sam Eberle as the most recent recipient of the NECBL Player of the Week award.  
Eberle, out of Jacksonville State,has been a key to the Blue Sox recent success during the past week batting .500 going 9-for-18 in that stretch.
Besides the impressive hitting, it has come with teammates on the bases as Eberle has driven in 15 runners by himself in the last week. Two home runs, one of those being a Grand Slam against Mystic in a 5-3 victory on Friday, helped with that RBI total.
These kinds of numbers are not new territory for the Tennessee native as in the spring he was just two home runs shy of the Triple Crown at Jacksonville State.
Blue Sox will look to Eberle’s hot bat as they cruise into the 2011 NECBL Playoffs.

Mystic, CT – .167 was the batting average of Sam Eberle with bases loaded on the season  when he stepped into the batter’s box in the second inning with the bases loaded and nobody out.
Eberle improved that average when he unloaded on a 2-0 pitch hitting it to dead center and over the fence for his sixth long ball of the season and first grand slam for the Blue Sox as a team as well.
With that bases-clearing jack it made it 4-1 Holyoke, and it looked like the Blue Sox were going to cruise to another victory and a doubleheader sweep.
The Schooners (16-22) started fighting back in the second inning as Nicholas Ferraresi led off the inning with a double and he would score on a throwing error by catcher Tom Murphy cutting into the lead making it 4-2.
Mystic would pull within one run as Joe Hudson, who led off the third inning with a double, scored on a RBI groundout by Brett Doran, who drove in the first run of the game for the Schooners on a sacrifice fly as Hal Landers scored on that.
With the Schooners trailing 4-3 the Blue Sox were looking for some insurance and they got that in the fourth inning as Frank DeSico score on a throwing error by the Mystic catcher making it 5-3, which would be the final score.
Brett Yarusi came into the game after a 21 minute rain delay, and pitched a gem as he went four innings, getting the win improving to 4-1 on the season. Yarusi would record four strikeouts in his outing and the loss went to Hunter Brown and he falls to 0-4 on the season.
The Blue Sox (26-13) are back in action tomorrow against the Mystic Schooners at 6:30 p.m. at Mackenzie Stadium.

Mystic, CT – For the next two days the only opponent the Blue Sox will face is the Schooners, but will have to battle with the Western Division rival three times in that span.
On Friday, Holyoke found itself in its final doubleheader of the season against Mystic at Fitch High School Field, with the weather threatening.
In the front end of the doubleheader the Blue Sox found themselves in a pitching duel with Ben Mount going for Holyoke, and Shane Liska for the Schooners, but the two squads would need extra innings to settle the game.
The game started with it looking like an old fashioned pitcher’s duel as the Blue Sox would get runners in scoring position in three of the first four innings, and would finally get on the scoreboard in the fourth inning.
Liska was dominating the Blue Sox as he recorded four strikeouts in the first four frames, until Trey Mancini led off the fourth with a single, and would go to third base on a single by Alex Sherrod.
With runners at first and third with no outs, Justin Ringo stepped in and hit a towering fly ball to centerfield, which would be deep enough to score Mancini from third making it 1-0.
Holyoke held onto the lead until the fifth inning when Brett Doran hit his third home run of the season, which was a solo shot over the left field fence, would tie the game at one apiece.
Heading into the eighth inning it was a 1-1 tie, and the heart of the Blue Sox lineup was due up, and despite Liska having so much success in his seven innings he was relieved by Matt Doyle.  Liska finished the night going seven innings, allowed five hits, one run and struck out six batters, but would get the no decision.
Doyle gave up a leadoff walk to Eric Smith and Ronnie Freeman came up and flew out to right field for the first out. Trey Mancini drew a walk as well putting runners at first second, and Smith and Mancini would advance on a wild pitch.
Tom Murphy would strikeout for the second out, and with that it came down to Sam Eberle to come through and he would with a RBI single to right field driving in Smith to make it 2-1 Holyoke.
Mancini and Eberle would score on a costly error by centerfielder Hal Landers making it 4-1 headed to the bottom of the eighth inning. Doyle would be charged with the loss in the end.
Mount’s night was done as he went seven innings, gave up four hits, and struck out five, and he would hand the ball over to Blue Sox closer Ryan Harvey.
Despite being down by three runs headed to the final at-bat for the Schooners, they would not go down without a fight as they would score two runs on errors pulling within one of the lead.
The Schooners (16-21) would have the bases loaded against Harvey, and with two outs Simon Kudernatch stepped up to the plate, but he came up short popping out to Smith at third base to end the game.
With that Mount got the win improving to 5-1 on the season, Harvey despite struggling got the save for the Blue Sox (25-13), which is his team-leading sixth of the season.