The Newbury Nighthawks were not allowed into the NECC Postseason Tournament despite qualifying for the tournament as the #4 seed.

In the New England Collegiate Conference seven teams play three game weekend series, two 7-inning games and 1 9-inning game. The top four teams (out of six) make the postseason tournament.
Kraig Kupiec, in his 5th season as Newbury Nighthawks Head Coach, guided the Nighthawks to a 19-21 record, 9-9 in NECC play. A former assistant coach at UMass Boston, Kupiec inherited a Newbury College Baseball program that had won only 17 games in its first four years in existence. With no baseball field

, no gym, and closet-sized weight room (sound familiar?

) Kupiec has, to date, tallied 87 wins in his five years at the helm.
This year the NECC had a three-way tie for the #3 seed with Lesley University, Newbury College and Becker College
all finishing at 9-9 in NECC play. NECC rules, and common sense, state that:
TIE BREAK PROCEDURES
1. Head to Head result (two-way tie).2. Best record among tied teams (three-way or more ties). Will only examine conference records of tied
teams in contests with each other during this step.3. Comparison of results against higher ranked teams starting with the highest ranked team and working
down in descending order.
4. Comparison of results against non-conference common opponents.
5. Comparison of winning percentage versus opponents with .500 or better winning percentage.
6. Overall winning percentage.
7. Coin toss.
The three season series went as such:
Lesley University 1 Newbury College 0
Lesley University 3 Newbury College 4
Lesely University 6 Newbury College 8Lesley University 1 Newbury College 2Lesley University 3 Becker College 2
Lesley University 10 Becker College 2
Lesley University 17 Becker College 16Lesley University 3 Becker College 0Newbury College 2 Becker College 5
Newbury College 3 Becker College 1
Newbury College 5 Becker College 10Newbury College 1 Becker College 2Looking at Rule #2, "Best record among tied teams (three-way or more ties).
Will only examine conference records of tied teams in contests with each other during this step." Therefore, Lesley University would be 4-2, Newbury College 3-3, and Becker College 2-4. Hence, Lesley University and Newbury College should earn the #3 and #4 seed respectively with Becker College missing the tournament.
However, it has been announced that somehow Lesley University and Becker College will make the NECC Postseason Tournament and not Newbury College?!?!
DIII Boards, am I missing something??? Apparently, the same incident happened several years ago in NECC Softball and Bay Path College was left out of the softball postseason tournament?!
I can only feel for the Newbury Nighthawks seniors and parents who earned the right to extend their baseball careers an extra week. Imagine reading the rules on the World Wide Web for the last two weeks, knowing that you accomplished your regular season goals, taking time off work, making lodging reservations and preparing for the postseason..... only to be told otherwise in the week leading up to the tournament.

Newbury College has apparently appealed the decision only to be denied by the NECC Executive Committee. Interestingly enough, a Becker College representative is the chair of said committee....

Am I understanding this correctly?!? Is this a serious misinterpretation of the rule or a political issue?!?

The rules clearly state the guidelines for defining a three-way tie yet they do not seem to be applied here.
The cost of winning even at the DIII level.....

DIII Boards, how does everyone else's conference define "Tiebreakers?" Again, am I missing something? Please help me understand. I know -- I hope an occurrence like this would never happen in the LEC!!!