—
Navs Notebook
Matt Williams
Jason Banos didn't expect to hear his name called when the Most Valuable Player was revealed after the New England Collegiate Baseball League All-Star Game last week.
But the North Shore outfielder's 2-run homer in the sixth inning was enough to impress the voters as the East side won the contest, 10-0, and Banos was honored as the game's MVP.
"One of the assistants said, 'Jay, be ready to get called' and I thought he was joking," said Banos. "I was really excited to be picked; it's hard to describe the feeling."
A Lynnfield native who plays for Columbia University, Banos has been one of the Navigators' hottest hitters this summer. Checking in with a .368 average, he's second in the league and an New England Collegiate Baseball League batting title isn't out of the question.
In a way, the 22-year-old is making up for some lost time. He was slated to play for the Navs last summer, but wound up missing his entire NCAA season as well as the summer with a heel injury that just wouldn't go away.
"Last year was pretty tough, but things always even out. Last year things weren't going so well — and this year they couldn't be better," Banos said.
Though he was able to work out most of the winter, Banos had a slow start at Columbia this past season. It didn't last long, though, as he finished with a career-high five homers, drove in 34 runs and hit .393 during Ivy Legaue play. The campaign earned him All-Ivy honorable mention as the Lions made the Ivy League finals before bowing out to Dartmouth.
"I felt good and thought I'd be able to jump right back in where I left off, but it took some time," Banos recalled. "I made the adjustments and it's really carried over into summer ball."
Banos was Second-Team All-Ivy when he helped the Lions win the Ivy League as a sophomore in 2008, and has played summer ball in two leagues prior to this year. The first was in the Atlantic Baseball Confederation Collegiate League in New Jersey and the second was the Rocky Mountain League in Colorado.
Being able to play closer to home has been a huge plus for Banos.
"The NECBL is definitely a step up from those league in terms of competition," he said. "It's definitely exciting to be able to live at home and have my parents see the games."
The exposure to professional scouts that comes with the NECBL doesn't hurt, either. Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Andre Ethier is just one of the former NECBL all-stars making a living in baseball.
"I hope I'm opening up some eyes," said Banos, a political science major at Columbia who plans to intern in the fall and finish his degree next spring.
"I'm getting some exposure and if I have a good year in college next year, we'll see what happens. One of the reasons I chose Columbia in the first place was so I'd always have a back-up plan in case baseball didn't work out."
Banos has started for Columbia coach Brett Boretti — the Beverly native, Davidson (N.C.) College Hall of Famer and former Endicott coach — since he was a freshman.
The Navigators (20-13) are sitting pretty on top of the East Division and are hoping to make the playoffs for the second straight year.
"This is exciting and I think all the guys are ready for the stretch run," said Banos. "We started off a little slow (0-6) but our team chemistry's come together and we have our full squad now."
• • •
Also representing the Navigators in the NECBL all-star game were catcher Bryce Tafelski, second baseman Tyler Kuehl, outfielder Matt Avery as well as pitchers Nolan Corr, Crayton Bare and Bryant Gauthier.
The 17th annual all-star gala was held in Newport, R.I. and included a day of festivities with a skills competition and home run derby.
"It was an honor to be there. I was just trying to soak up the experience," said Banos. "The whole day was a lot of fun; Newport did a great job setting everything up and they had a lot of fans."
• • •
The Navigators have been red hot since an 0-6 start and are getting some national recogniation as a result. North Shore is ranked No. 15 in the latest PG CrossChecker Summer Baseball Top 30. The Navs are the highest ranked team in the NECBL.
Checking in at No. 1 are the Brewster Whitecaps of the Cape Cod League. The Newport Gulls are the only other NECBL club in Top 30, ranked No. 24.
• • •
Looking ahead, the Navs host Laconia at Fraser Field tonight and have tomorrow off before embarking on a three-game road trip. Overall, North Shore is entering the stretch run with their final nine games in the next 10 days and the Gulls just a half-game behind in the Eastern Division standings.
• • •
Among the league leaders statistically for the Navs are Kuehl, who ranks ranks second with 24 RBI on the season, and Bare, who is also second with an earned run average of only 1.45. Bare is 3-0 in six starts for the Navigators after joining the team once Baylor University was knocked out of the NCAA's Fort Worth Regional.
• • •
Around the NECBL, Danvers' Eric Oxford was recently released from the Holyoke Blue Sox. The Holy Cross star had collected four RBI and doubled twice in only 24 at-bats.
• • •
Navs Notebook, a look at the North Shore's New England Collegiate Baseball League entry, appears weekly in The Salem News during the summer. Contact Matt Williams at MWilliams@salemnews.com or 978-338-2669.
