Transfer works for Vanidestine, Husson

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Brewer’s Ed Vanidestine said it took him all summer to decide whether to transfer to Husson College from the University of Maine.

Husson College Coach John Kolasinski is glad he transferred because, at .437, Vanidestine is his leading hitter entering the NAIA District 5 Baseball Tournament at St. Joseph’s College in Standish beginning Thursday.

“It was tough to leave Maine,” said Vanidestine, a designated hitter whose 45 hits are a school single-season record. “I still wonder today if I would have had a shot to play at Maine. But I made my decision, the decision is behind me now, and I like Husson a lot. I’m very happy here, they’ve got a great program at Husson and the kids in the baseball program are great.”

The decision was based on playing time. Vanidestine had only 3 at-bats (1 hit) at Maine a year ago.

“I’m just happy to get the chance to play,” said Vanidestine. “It’s tough up at Maine. You have to work a lot harder.”

Vanidestine started out as a candidate for the starting shortstop job, but he struggled defensively on the spring trip in Florida, so Kolasinki made him the DH.

“I’ve grown into the position,” said Vanidestine. “I just wanted to do whatever I could to help the team.”

“Eddie is an outstanding hitter who has hit the ball consistently hard for us all year,” said Kolasinski. “He feels at home here. He’s very comfortable with the team and the college. He’s grown up a lot over the year.”

The lefthanded-hitting Vanidestine credited Kolasinski with “helping me out with some of the small things that have made a difference for me. He’s got me staying back (keeping his weight back) and waiting, and he’s taught me to have confidence. He’s also showed me how to mentally approach pitchers.”

“Eddie had developed a bad habit of dropping his back shoulder which produced a lot of lazy fly balls,” said Kolasinski. “But by staying back and keeping his shoulder closed, he’s been able to hit the ball hard and use his natural power to hit the gap in left center field. He’ll stay with the pitch and hit it to left.”

Kolasinski expected Vanidestine to be a good hitter, but not to hit quite as well as he has.

“I thought he’d be a .330-.340 hitter, but not a .400 hitter,” said Kolasinski. “He went on a tear and people couldn’t get him out.”

Vanidestine said breaking the records for hits “feels good. It’s a good honor. I hope to build on it and maybe set a couple more records. But I’m not thinking about records. Winning the district and getting to the regionals and the (NAIA) World Series are a lot more important to me than records.”

Vanidestine, the All-District DH, has 2 homers, 11 doubles, and 3 triples, and has scored 34 runs. He leads the team in average, hits, runs, and doubles. He leads the district in doubles and triples and is second in average.

Vanidestine has been one of the many keys behind Husson’s season, which has produced an 11-1 district record and an overall mark of 17-17. The Braves have gone 15-9 since their 2-8 spring trip to Florida.

“I was disappointed with our spring trip, but the injuries to Robbie Gilmore (badly sprained ankle) and Mike Austin (season-ending knee injury) had a lot to do with that,” said Kolasinski. “Since we’ve been up north, we’ve played all right. We’ve played extremely well in our conference.”

Kolasinski feels this is the best of his three Husson teams.

“This one is the deepest and the players believe in themselves,” said Kolasinski.

Offensively, Vanidestine has been complemented by first baseman-pitcher Frank Peckham, who has set the school single-season record for RBIs with 40; while hitting .368 with 5 homers; left fielder Gilmore (7 homers); and third baseman Greg Morrill (.348).

Kolasinski said the recent emergence of Morrill and right fielder Tim Knapp (.315) in the Nos. 6 and 7 spots mean “people can’t relax after they get past Eddie Vanidestine (fifth spot).”

“Our lineup has a good mixture. We have speed at the top and the bottom of the order and anybody who hits second through seventh can hit the ball out of the park,” said Kolasinski.

Sophomore righthander Matt Dutille (4-3, 3.32 earned run average) and freshman righty Peter Allen (5-4, 4.81) head up the pitching staff. They are complemented by freshman righties Jamie Pete and Dean Bowden. Peckham is the No. 5 starter.

“Our pitching is very balanced,” said Kolasinski. “We can beat people with any one of the five.”

As for his team defense, Kolasinski said they should be in good shape “if we can stay away from having a bad inning where we commit two or three errors.”

Husson batting order

Pos. Player BA HR RBI CF Sean Sullivan .295 0 15

C Ron Mayo .284 1 16 LF Robbie Gilmore .289 7 25 1B Frank Peckham .368 5 40 DH Eddie Vanidestine .437 2 27 RF Tim Knapp .315 1 12 3B Greg Morrill .348 2 19 2B Jim Palmer .230 1 16 SS Josh Dumont .263 0 15

Pitching rotation

Player W-L ERA RH Matt Dutille 4-3 3.32 RH Peter Allen 5-4 4.81 RH Jamie Pete 3-4 6.92 RH Dean Bowden 2-1 8.05 RH Frank Peckham 2-2 5.52

Bullpen

Player W-L ERA RH Ron Mayo 1-2 4.41 RH Rich Mazurek 0-0 7.84