Dostie, Worcester star as Braves sweep Monks

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BANGOR_Husson sophomore pitcher Dave Dostie found his pressure point fooling around in practice on Tuesday. His classmate Mike Worcester only discovered his offensive power range Wednesday. Yet both the Braves’ underclassmen came up huge in Husson’s sweep of conference rival St. Joseph’s on Wednesday.

Worcester broke a 5-5 tie on a one-out grand slam in the seventh that gave Husson a 9-5 win in the first game, while Dostie crafted a four-hitter, striking out six and walking one to lead the Braves to an 11-1 romp over the Monks in the second game of the Maine Athletic Conference doubleheader.

Husson improved to 17-14, while St. Joseph’s is now 18-12.

In the first game, Worcester’s grand slam was just his second homer this season, but not entirely a surprise as he found his offensive comfort zone long ago and carried a .451 batting average into the game. Still, his timing was superb.

“We’re not a power-hitting team, but we’ve been moving the runners,” said Husson coach John Kolasinksi, whose club has won 12 of its last 15 games. “I knew Mike would get the bat on the ball and drive a runner in.”

After taking a 2-0 lead into the second thanks to a sacrifice fly by John Montgomery and an RBI single by Worcester, St. Joseph’s produced three runs on three hits and a Husson error in the second.

Jesse Lacasse’s solo homer got the Monks moving. Then Ben Gosselin singled and Marcus Cromwell reached on an error by the pitcher. Jim Becvar’s two-run double made it 3-2.

With Husson leading 5-4 after six, miscues set them back again when Dave Wellington advanced on a fielding error and later scored on a two-out single by Dave Quintal, who was 0-for-3 through six.

Worcester, on the other hand, was 2-for-3 with two RBIs entering the seventh. So after Mike King took first on an error and Monks’ pitcher J.P. Pyne came in and loaded the bases, the Braves’ catcher said he felt no pressure.

“I was just trying for a sacrifice fly,” Worcester said. “I got under it just right. I’ve been working with coach [John] Winkin. He tells me to keep my chin down. A lot of times I was pulling my head, now I’m keeping it on the ball.”

Brave James Zukowski went the distance scattering seven hits and giving up three earned runs, while striking out three and walking one.

In the second game, Worcester led a Husson attack that produced 13 hits and 11 runs without an extra base hit. The Braves’ seemed to feed off Dostie’s calm performance.

“I was struggling with my slider before the game. Normally, I struggle with my fastball,” Dostie said. “But [uesday] I was playing pass and changed my pressure point. It had better velocity. I started throwing it and after the first inning, it helped. Today I was throwing it where I wanted.”

St. Joseph’s coach Will Sanborn wasn’t surprised by Dostie’s crafty work. He led the conference in strikeouts coming into the game.

“Sometimes when a team loses a tough game, the next game is a blowout because they give up. I don’t feel we gave up,” Sanborn said. “[Dostie] has faced a lot of tough teams. Last year, he’d get down 3-1 in the count and walk them. This year, he gets the out.”

Husson scored three runs in each of the first two innings as Worcester went 3-for-3 in the game and Jared Foster racked up three singles and three runs scored. Mike King scored four times without even registering an at-bat.

Braves 9, Monks 5

(First Game)

St. Joseph’s Husson

Name ab r h bi Name ab r h bi

Wellington, rf 3 2 1 0 King, ss 3 1 1 1

Holland, c 4 0 0 0 Foster, lf 3 1 2 1

Quintal, 3b 4 0 1 1 Largay, 2b 2 2 1 0

a-Lambert 0 0 0 0 Montgomery, rf 2 1 0 1

Osborne, cf 4 0 1 0 Worcester, c 4 1 3 5

Lacasse, dh 2 1 1 0 Pickering, dh 3 0 0 0

Gosselin, lf 3 1 1 0 Creek, 1b 3 1 1 0

Greve, 1b 3 0 1 0 Morris, 3b 3 1 1 0

Crowell, 2b 3 1 0 0 Soucie, cf 3 0 0 0

Becvar, ss 3 0 1 2

Totals 29 5 7 3 Totals 26 8 9 8

a-ran for Quintal in the seventh

St. Joseph’s 030 010 1 – 5

Husson 201 200 4 – 9

E – Crowell; Zukowski, Morris 2B – Greve, Becvar; Largay HR – Lacasse; Worcester LOB – St. Joe’s 3; Husson 3 SB – Wellington S – Holland; Soucie, Foster SF – King

PITCHER IP H R ER BB SO

St. Joseph’s

Shaffer 6 1/3 8 5 1 2 1

Pyne (L,0-2) 2/3 1 3 2 2 0

Husson

Zukowski (W,4-3) 7 7 5 3 1 3

WP – Zukowski PB – Worcester BK – Shaffer TIME – 2:20 ATTENDANCE – 40 est.

Braves 11, Monks 1

(Second Game)

St. Joseph’s (18-12) Husson (17-14)

Name ab r h bi Name ab r h bi

Vachon, 2b 3 1 1 0 King, ss 0 4 0 0

Hannigan, ss 2 0 0 0 Foster, lf 4 3 3 0

Quintel, 3b 2 0 1 1 Largay, 2b 4 2 2 2

Osborne, cf 2 0 1 0 Montgomery, rf 2 1 0 0

Lecasse, dh 3 0 1 0 Worcester, c 3 0 3 1

Gosselin, lf 3 0 0 0 Creek, 1b 4 0 2 2

Greve, 1b 3 0 0 0 Williams, 3b 2 0 1 0

Holland, c 2 0 0 0 McGlinn, c 4 1 1 0

Wellington, rf 2 0 0 0 Soucie, cf 4 0 1 0

a-Prescott 1 0 0 0

Totals 22 1 4 1 Totals 28 11 13 5

a-struck out for Soucie in the fourth

St. Joseph’s 100 000 – 1

Husson 332 021 – 11

E – Greve HR – Largay LOB – St. Joe’s 6; Husson 10 DP – Quintel-Hannigan-Greve SB – Largay, King

PITCHER IP H R ER BB SO

St. Joseph’s

Buker (L,4-1) 1 1/3 4 5 2 4 3

Whitehouse 4 2/3 10 6 4 5 3

Husson

Dostie (W,2-5) 6 4 1 0 1 6

HBP – Osborne by Dostie WP – Whitehouse 2 PB – Holland TIME – 2:10 ATTENDANCE – 35