SteepleCats' Reliever Named Pitcher Of The Week
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — After a dominant four-game stretch over the past week, left-handed reliever Matt Longfield has earned the North Adams SteepleCats’ second weekly league honor in 2012, as the Villanova southpaw was named the New England Collegiate Baseball League Pitcher of the Week, the league announced Sunday.Longfield, a Miami, Fla., native, appeared in four games out of the bullpen, facing 20 batters and striking out 10 of them. In 5.1 innings of work, he didn't walk a batter and surrendered just three hits and one run. Longfield, a 6'5" lefty, earned the win on July 11th at Holyoke with four strikeouts in 1.1 innings, and ranks second in the league with five pitching victories.
Establishing himself as one of the league’s top bullpen options through the SteepleCats’ first 30 games, Longfield stands at 5-1 with a 0.92 ERA over 19.2 innings. The southpaw has yielded only two earned runs on 13 hits over that span with 27 strikeouts and five walks. Longfield also boasts three saves on the season and has allowed only four extra-base hits.
Longfield has spent the better part of three seasons as one of Villanova’s most lethal lefty options out of the bullpen, and that continued during his junior campaign during which he held opposing hitters to just a .217 batting average. He yielded no home runs and only 10 hits in 12 2/3 innings while striking out 20.
No stranger to summer baseball, Longfield pitched in the Prospect League for the West Virginia Miners in 2011, appearing in 24 games and pitching 33 1/3 innings. He struck out 48 while allowing only 17 hits and went 2-1 with a 2.16 ERA. The lefty made an appearance in the Prospect League Championship Game, as well. The summer before, Longfield pitched in the ACBL for the Westhampton Aviators.
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