By Michael Letendre

The New England Collegiate Baseball League postseason is upon us.

And the 2022 playoffs have the Bristol Blues in a prime-time position for a shot at the NECBL Championship, the Fay Vincent Cup.

All three division winners, which included Bristol, are in the playoff mix, as well as three wild card teams.

By virtue of its outstanding 32-12 regular season record, the Blues earned the second seed and a bye into the semifinal round.

The Vermont Mountaineers, also at 32-12, took home the top seed – getting a bye into the semifinals.

Tie breaking criteria had Vermont take the number one seed in tournament play over Bristol.

In an amazing regular season finish, both Bristol and Vermont tied the 2016 Newport Gulls for the most wins in NECBL regular season history at thirty-two.

Bristol and Vermont’s playoff opponents will be determined over a single-elimination wild card round.

On Monday, seeds 3-6 will battle it out for a chance at a semifinal berth on Tuesday against one of the top programs in all the NECBL. 

No. 3 Newport Gulls takes on No. 6 Sanford Mainers from Cardines Field in Newport, Rhode Island and in the bottom of the bracket, it’s the fourth ranked Martha Vineyard’s Sharks against No. 5 Mystic Schooners in a showdown from the Shark Tank in Martha’s Vineyard.

The wild card round is a single elimination event.

The Mountaineers will battle the lowest remaining seed after the wild card round while the Blues square off against the other victor in the semifinals.

The semifinals (and the finals) will be best-of-three events, starting on Tuesday with the home team hosting game one and game three (if necessary).

All games during the postseason can be streamed live on the NECBL Broadcast Network.

Here’s a look at the NECBL field as the top six franchises have a chance to capture the 2022 Fay Vincent Cup:

2022 New England Collegiate Baseball League – Postseason Tournament (Seeding):

Top seed – Vermont Mountaineers (North Division Winner, 32-12 overall record)

Runner-up –Bristol Blues (West Division Winner, 32-12)

No. 3 – Newport Gulls (Coastal Division Winner, 30-14)

No. 4 – Martha’s Vineyard Sharks (Wild Card, 29-15)

No. 5 – Mystic Schooners (Wild Card, 23-21)

No. 6 – Sanford Mainers (Wild Card, 22-22)

NECBL Wild Card Pairings:

Monday, August 1 

*No. 3 Newport Gulls vs. No. 6 Sanford Mainers (Cardines Field, Newport, Rhode Island) –

 single elimination

*No. 4 Martha’s Vineyard Sharks vs. No. 5 Mystic Schooners (The Shark Tank, Martha’s Vineyard) – single elimination

Semifinal Round – Best-of-3

Tuesday, August 2 (to August 4 if necessary)

*No. 1 Vermont Mountaineers vs. the lowest remaining seed

*No. 2 Bristol Blues vs. the highest remaining seed

2022 NECBL Championship (Fay Vincent Cup) – Best-of-3

*Bristol series winner vs. Vermont series winner

*Friday, August 5 through Sunday, August 7

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