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NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – After last summer’s memorable campaign, the New England League’s 28th season of play kicks off on June 7 and will feature a new divisional alignment, scheduling format and playoff structure that promises to add a new wrinkle to a league rich with history. The Nighthawks will host the season-opener at The Max on June 11th at 6pm. 

The 14-team league will pivot to three a three-division alignment this summer: the Coastal Division will be comprised of Martha’s Vineyard, Mystic, Newport, North Shore and Ocean State; the North Division features Keene, Sanford, Upper Valley, Vermont and Winnipesaukee; finally, the West Division will group Bristol, Danbury, North Adams and Valley together.

The 2022 season will see the Nighthawks play a 44-game slate where they will play two divisional teams seven times and the remaining two in-division teams six times. They will also play every out-of-division squad two times apiece to account for the full 44-game calendar.

Opening Day will see the reigning champion Danbury Westerners host Ocean State on Tuesday, June 7, as part of a schedule that sees all 14 teams in action. Other first-day matchups include Winnipesaukee hosting Keene in a Granite State battle, Mystic battling North Shore, Sanford facing Upper Valley, Vermont welcoming Newport in a clash of past league champions, North Adams taking on Bristol, and Martha’s Vineyard battling Valley.

The Martha’s Vineyard Sharks will play host to the 2022 NECBL All-Star Game on Sunday, July 24, 2022 at the Shark Tank, marking the first time the Sharks have hosted the NECBL All-Star Game since joining the league in 2019. The All-Star Game features the NECBL’s top talent featuring some of the best talent the league has to offer – with players from all NECBL organizations showcasing their skills in front of scouts from every Major League Baseball organization. The rosters will be comprised of two teams based on the 2021 two-division league, with teams in the North and the South. The Nighthawks sent seven players to the 2021 ASG. 

In the final week of the season, each of the league’s 14 teams will play against division opponents, and the playoffs will feature six teams (three division winners and three wildcards who have the highest win percentage after the division winners).

The division winners with the two best winning percentages will earn first-round byes, while the third division winner will battle the wildcard team with the lowest win percentage (3 vs 6) in a single-elimination game, and the two wildcard teams with the best win percentages will face off in a single-elimination wildcard round matchup (4 vs 5).

The top seed will then meet the advancing team that is the lowest remaining wildcard team (1 vs 4), while the second seed faces the highest remaining wildcard team (2 vs 3) in the best-of-three semifinals before the last two teams standing square off in a best-of-three NECBL Championship Series.

The final games of the regular season will be on Saturday, July 30, with the following day (July 31) open for makeup games before the postseason begins on Monday, August 1.

View the entire 2022 Schedule HERE.