THE FRANCHISE BEGINNINGS:
In 2013, with only three established teams in Granite State Baseball League’s 38+ Division, a fourth team was needed. The GSBL hierarchy sensing this need asked Fred Royer if he would be willing to leave the Manchester Eagles, one of the established teams, to helm a fourth team.
Initially hesitate, Royer elected to take on the challenge of building a team from the ground up. At first, he was leaning towards naming the new team the “Cardinals”, but after seeing the “IronPigs” logo of the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, the Philadelphia Phillies’ Triple-A affiliate, he created the Manchester (later New England) IronPigs.
2013 Summer Season:
From scratch, Royer began building the team. He signed Steve Haight as the first ever IronPig, then brought over Eddie Reynoso, Ken Lumb and Rick Berry from the Manchester Eagles.
Throughout the season, the team continued to add pieces, like Aaron Wovkanech (now the manager), Frank Trinidad, Paul LeCain, Pete Soens and Scott Belville.
The IronPigs earned the Franchise's first win with a dramatic 16-15 10-inning victory at home against the Epping Badgers. It was a well desrved win for the 'Pigs, as they were missing arguably their top two hitters and #1 pitcher. The IronPigs rallied from a seven-run deficit in scorching 95+ heat.
Unfortunately, this marked the IronPigs only win in their inaugural season, as they struggled to be competitive for most of the year; finishing 1-13. Despite their struggles, the coaches saw progress in the later stages of the season and the beginnings of a future playoff-caliber team.
2013 Fall Season:
During the Fall of 2013, the GSBL Fall League asked if anyone was willing to take over a the fourth team for the Fall Season, which had already begun. Both Fred Royer and Aaron Wovkanech stepped up and helped a team in need of leadership.
"Team X" struggled to find players and were "forced" to borrow players from other teams to play their regular season games. They somehow finished 3-2 in the regular season and earned the second seed for the Fall Tournament.
Calling for some players from Manchester Eagles (and others) to compete in the Fall playoffs, the IronPigs shocked the younger Portsmouth Padres in the First Round 4-3 and advanced to the Fall Ball Championship, where they fell short to Manchester Phillies 10-1.
2014 Summer Season:
The 2014 Summer Season began a new chapter for the Manchester IronPigs, as after one-year in the GSBL, the team had elected to changed their league affiliation to the NHBL to see increased competition as well be more competetive in an "older" league.
While the IronPigs showed improvement in some areas of the game, they finished a disappointing 1-12 in their NHBL debut. The IronPigs did add some key pieces, which included Derek Levine and John Lano, throughout the season and have some prospects on their way for the 2015 Summer Season.
2014 Fall Season:
Aaron Wovkanech took the manager's role for the 2014 Fall Season. The IronPigs have several players returning from 2013 "Team X" squad, but have added some younger players from the Concord Sunset League as well as the Granite State Baseball League. To fill out the roster, the 'Pigs added some veterans from Manchester Eagles of the NHBL.
The IronPigs claimed first place in the 2014 regular season with a 5-1 record and advanced to their second consecutive Fall Ball Championship Game.
They dispatched the Granite State Tigers 9-3 in the First Round, before the 'Pigs played host to the Portsmouth Padres in the Fall Ball Championship. The IronPigs prevailed with an 8-7 victory to claim their first Fall Ball Championship; the team's first title of any kind.
2015 Summer Season:
After Fred Royer moved up to the NEBL50 to join the Manchester Eagles, who also moved up, Aaron Wovkanech took over the Summer Season's managerial role. With only a handful of players returning from 2014 season, the IronPigs added more than 15 new players, including several former Eagles.
The 2015 'Pigs finished with an overall record of 3-12-1; tripling their win total from each of the first 2 Summer seasons and also moved out of the basement for the first time in the Summer; finishing 6th.
The 'Pigs came in second place in the "B" Tournament Championship, losing to the Bow Falcons 9-4.
During the season, the IronPigs offense lead the way, batting .311 with 30 extra base hits and 105 runs scored, setting new team records. The pitching was better, as they set team records in ERA, Innings, Strikeouts, Opponents Batting Average and WHIP. Though, with so many new guys playing for the first time in years, the team defense took a step back this year.
Despite the record, the IronPigs have built a nice foundation to build off for the 2016 Summer.
2015 Fall Season:
The Fall 'Pigs began their quest to defend their Fall Ball Championship. Behind the 2014 core championship group, plus several additions, the 'Pigs dominated the regular season, finishing 5-0.
The 'Pigs took care of the Red Sox 13-2 in round one, advancing to the Fall Championship game for the third consecutive season.
The 'Pigs would square off against the Portsmouth Padres for the second straight Fall finale. Behind Cesar Reyes' no-hitter, the 'Pigs repeated as Fall Champions. The 'Pigs dominated Fall Ball with a 7-0 record, outscoring opponents 54-7.
2016 Summer Season:
The Summer season saw alot of changes, records broken and more success. The first major change was the IronPigs expanded their Franchise and entering a 28+ team into the Granite State Baseball League. This would mark the Franchise's return to the GSBL after the 38+ team left after 2013, the franchise's inaugural season.
Also managed by Aaron Wovkanech, the younger 'Pigs had a successful first season. In order to build the 28-squad, the coaches needed to add players that played in the Fall, the GSBL21 division, free agents and other leagues. These players formed the core group.
Due to the nature of the roster, the 28 'Pigs used a grand total of 30 players throughout the season, but still managed to finish the regular season 9-4 and gained the third seed for the GSBL28 postseason. They claimed their playoff berth by beating the Merrimack Brewers, avenging an earlier season loss. That theme will continue into the playoffs.
With Aaron Wovkanech guiding the elder-IronPigs in their postseason run, Aaron Stella and Jim Kenney, took the reigns of the 28-team for majority of the postseason. In Round 1, the 'Pigs avenged a regular season sweep at the hands of the Lakes Region Royals, another new team, by returning the favor and sweeping them out of the playoffs.
In the GSBL28 Championship Series, the IronPigs would face the defending champions, the Lincoln A's. They split the regular season series, but the IronPigs would sweep the GSBL28 Championship Series, gaining the GSBL28 trophy in its first season. Manager Wovkanech was able to make it up the Game 2 of the finale -- driving from Nashua to Lincoln to watch finale.
The reason Aaron Wovkanech missed a good portion of the 28-playoffs is simple. The 38 'Pigs had its best season ever. The 38 'Pigs had gone a combine 5-37-1 in its first three seasons, but in 2016, with most of the 2015 squad returning, plus a full-season from Cesar Reyesl, the 'Pigs went 12-9, including a 9-5 record in the regular season. The 'Pigs broke several individual and team records and earned the third seed in the postseason.
The first round was a rematch of last season's "B" Tournament Finals versus the Bow Falcons. As the higher seed, the 'Pigs only needed to win one game. However, despite Reyes complete game effort, the Falcons took Game 1, 7-6, forcing a "winner advances" to Final Four. Miffed at the lost, Reyes came back out and pitched 7 strong innings. The 'Pigs exploded for seven runs to win 10-3 and advance to face off against the Hooksett Red Sox. Reyes was impressive, pitching 16 innings on the day.
In the Final Four, the 'Pigs and Sox faced off in a best of 3 series. Even though the Sox were the higher seed, the 'Pigs had owned them in the regiular season. Despite that dominance, the Sox surprised the 'Pigs with a 16-4 Game 1 rout. The next day with their backs against the wall again, the 'Pigs took Game 2 18-9 behind another Cesar Reyes complete game effort. Not wanting to tax Reyes again, the 'Pigs elected to use Wade Ungaro to start Game 3. Trailing 6-5, Aaron Wovkanech put Reyes back in. He shut them down the rest of way, and the 'Pigs scored 3 runs to win 8-6 and advance to the NHBL38 Championship Series for the first time in the team's history
The elder IronPigs have never solved the Bison question and never beat them, could they solve the riddle and beat them in the Finals?
The Bisons blitzed the 'Pigs in Game 1 22-0. Despite that loss, the 'Pigs didn't fold up and came out the next day with confidence. Behind Cesar Reyes once again, the 'Pigs lost 1-0 in Game 2 on a walk-off single with 2 outs in the bottom of the ninth inning in historic Holman Stafium.
Despite the championship loss, the 38 'Pigs had a successful season, which they can build on for the 2017 season
2016 Fall Season:
After a very successful Summer season, the quest for a Fall "3-peat" was about to begin. Unlike the previous year, many of the 2014 and 2015 championship players elected not to return. Despite the player exodus, the 'Pigs, while not as dominating, completed a perfect regular season for the second straight Fall season. Nik Beeson set a team record with 20 strikeouts in a game (against his former Phillies Summer team)
In a rematch of the 2014 First Round, the 'Pigs defeated the Granite State Tigers 10-0 that was highlighted by a power display. Nik Beeson blasted two home runs and drove in six. Don Bourassa added another home run. Cesar Reyes and Jose Delos Santos combined to shut out the Tigers.
The 2016 Fall Final was a rematch of the 2013 Fall Final that saw the 'Pigs lose to the Manchester Phillies. With Beeson on the mound, the 'Pigs avenged that 2013 loss, beating the Phillies 4-2 for their "3-peat".
The IronPigs completed another perfect Fall season, having won 18 straight fall games.
2017 Summer Season:
The Summer season started with a bang for the elder IronPigs (NHBL38) as they won their rematch against the Bedford Bisons, finally solving that puzzle. However, despite a run differential of just minus-6 and missed opportunities in close games, the elder 'Pigs finished the season 3-11 season. They fought hard in playoffs taking the Hooksett Red Sox to 3 games, but couldn't come up with the upset series win and were eliminated in Round 1.
Meanwhile, the younger 'Pigs of the GSBL28 league continued their winning ways, going 12-1 during the regular season. In round one, a rematch of last season's GSBL28 Championship, the Lincoln A's were able to take the defending the champs to 3 games, but the 28 'Pigs prevailed.
In the 2017 GSBL28 Championship, the 'Pigs finished off the Lakes Region Royals, sweeping them in 2 games. Game 2 was won in dramatic fashion. Down 3 runs in the 9th innings with 2 outs and no one on base, the never say die 'Pigs scored 4 runs to walk off with the repeat title at historic Holman Stadium.
As the previous season's GSBL28 Champions, Manager Aaron Wovkanech was asked to coach one the GSBL All*Star teams at Concord Memorial Field. Unfortunately, our side lost 8-5 in a highly competetive game.
2017 FALL Season:
Unfortunately, no Fall Ball season in 2017, but the IronPigs are looking to play in some tournaments. Stay tuned!
Footnote:
More importantly, while the both the Summer and Fall teams makes progress on the field, the players are enjoying their time playing some baseball...
