New Providence Reds

2021 will go down as a season to remember as The reds claimed their 4th NJABL Championship. The season began with the Reds dropping their first 3. After being 0-3, they shifted gears and rolled off 6 straight victories and finished the regular season 6-4 and the 4th seed heading into the post-season.

The playoffs saw the Reds stay hot as they defeated the #5 Mercer Mad Dawgs in the Wild Card game 4-3 and then toppled the #1 Hunterdon Expos 6-3. The following week, the Reds shutout the #2 Jersey Hitmen 4-0 and found themselves in the Championship against the Expos.

The Championship game saw the 3rd time that Cy Young candidates Chris Lowe and Michael Pierce (Expos) matched up against one another. Pierce was victorious 2-1 in the regular season, but Lowe got him in the playoffs 6-3. Lowe out-dueled the eventual Cy Young winner and the Reds swept the playoffs. The final score of the title game was 5-2, and the Reds claimed the NJABL South Summer Championship. Lowe was awarded with the Post-season MVP award, going 3-0 with 1 save, a 0.90 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, and 20K in 23 1/3 IP. Chris was a horse all season for the Reds and finished 2nd in the league in the CY Young race.

During the regular season, the Reds were led by SS Matt Nesto, who hit .360 (9/25) and led the league with 11 Runs scored, 9 RBI, and 10 BB. He also went 7/7 in SB. Nesto was crowned the South Summer MVP for his play during the season. This is the first time a Red has won the regular season MVP award.