Haverhill, MA (Tuesday, May 20, 2025) – The Northern Essex Community College baseball team, ranked ninth final national poll of the season, fresh off their fourth consecutive Northeast District championship has earned #5 national seed as announced today by the NJCAA Baseball Committee.
The Knights who will enter the double elimination tournament with a 32-8 overall record, and will open up play at Falcon Park in Auburn, NY on Saturday night against the fourth seed Dallas College-Richland Thunderducks with first pitch scheduled for 7:15pm. Richland enter the tournament with a 35-22 record and champions of the South Central district.
The Knights will head into the tournament led by Region 21 Player of the Year Manny Castro (Manchester, NH) who will head to the World Series with a .460 batting average, including five hits in the two-game sweep of Suffolk County in the district tournament. Also, batting over .400 for the Knights are Thomas Fratto (Reading) and Anthony Marino (Lynn) checking in with .421 and .412 numbers respectively. Marino also has 40 stolen bases, second only on the team to leadoff batter Jaren Megan (Fairhaven) who has 41, while batting .388.
The pitching staff has been led a quartet of freshman heading down the stretch in Jack Sarno (Byfield), Jack Kelleher (Haverhill), Larsen Burch (Painting Post, NY) and Eric Bridges (Saugus) who have combined for 18 wins and four saves on the mound. Burch picked up the win in both of the district tournament games coming out of the bullpen and tossing a combined 2.2 innings of hitless relief. Sarno leads the team with 45 innings pitched including 5.2 in the district tournament opener last Friday.
Following the opening game of the tournament, a win would send the Knights into the winners bracket and a Sunday night matchup against top seeded and unbeaten Niagara County (49-0) or eight seeded Century (MN) 43-9. A loss would put the Knights into Sunday afternoons losers bracket against the loser of the Niagara and Century.
Daily admission prices at Falcon Park is $10 for an all-day pass, fans not making the trip to the stadium can watch live on the NJCAA Network for a $10 daily pass or $30 all-tournament pass
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE:
Saturday May 23rd
Game 1: #3 Brookdale (NJ) vs. #6 Surry (NC) 9:30am
Game 2: #2 Gloucester (NJ) vs. #7 Oakton (IL) 12:45pm
Game 3: #1 Niagara (NY) vs. #8 Century (MN) 4:00pm
Game 4: #4 Dallas-Richland (TX) vs. #5 Northern Essex 7:15pm
Sunday May 25th
Game 5: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 9:30am
Game 6: Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4 12:45pm
Game 7: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 4:00pm
Game 8: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4 7:15pm
Monday May 26th
Game 9: Loser Game 7 vs. Winner Game 6 12:00pm
Game 10: Loser of Game 8 vs Winner of Game 5 3:15pm
Game 11: Winner of Game 7 vs Winner of Game 8 6:30pm
Tuesday May 27th
Game 12: Winner of Game 9 vs. Winner of Game 10 3:30pm
Game 13: Loser of Game 11 vs Winner of Game 12 7:00pm
Wednesday May 28th
Game 14: Championship Game (Winner of 11 vs Winner of 13) 7:00pm
Thursday May 29th
Game 15: If Necessary Championship Game