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Vincent makes most of Giant opportunity By MIKE BOGEN Justin Vincent just wants to play ball, and anything else is gravy. The NECBL, like the more well-known Cape Cod League, is an elite summer league. And Vincent is playing in it quite well, thank you. "Justin's doing a real good job," says Giants coach Joel Southern, who is the head coach at Western New England during the college season. "He's hit the ball really well and become a fixture in the three-hole (third spot in the batting order) for us. He's a gamer." Indeed, halfway through the Giants' season, Vincent was hitting .303, third best on a team that was hitting a collective .229. With 22 singles out of 23 hits, Vincent hadn't yet shown the power he flashed last season at UNH, where in addition to batting .378, he had 12 extra-base hits in 119 at-bats, but Southern isn't discounting Vincent's ability in that area. "He's shown the ability to hit to all fields, and he's put the ball in play when we need it. He's also done very well situationally," Southern says. "And I've seen glimpses of his power. It's there." Of course, everyone in the NECBL suffers from a power outage to an extent, because it is a wooden-bat league, and balls are not rocketing off space-age polymers and alloys. That's a plus for Vincent. In fact, it helped get him the roster spot. "We were looking for a left-handed hitting outfielder and his college coach (Frank Viera) said he was impressed with Justin every day. He's one of the few guys we have with experience with wooden bats, and that's one of the things coach Viera told me," Southern says. "The last two summers I For Vincent, coming out of Division II New Haven, getting drafted by a major league team and having a professional career is a longer shot than it might be coming from a Division I school. But it's certainly still an attainable goal. "I told coach Viera I wanted to play this summer because it's my last summer to get looked at, and he contacted the Giants. Mr Moffie (Giants owner Cal) had seen me play, too. I felt I needed to get my name out this summer and then tear it up at school my senior year," says Vincent, who missed major exposure when UNH failed to get a postseason NCAA tournament bid, despite a 25-9 record. Southern sees Vincent's future in his bat. "He's done a credible job at first base and left field. He understands the importance of hitting the cutoff man, and doesn't try to showcase himself out there," Southern says. "That said, Justin's bat is his number one tool, no doubt. He'll have to hit his way to a pro career." If Vincent gets that chance, it'll be wonderful. If not ... "I just love to play baseball, and the more I can play, the better. Anytime you get to play 44 games, that's great," Vincent says. "Even if exposure weren't an issue, I'd still be playing."
© 2004 The Republican Company. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission.
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