Saint Joseph’s rolls past Thomas to win NAIA Region X tourney

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STANDISH – While members of the Saint Joseph’s College baseball team were watching Thomas College outlast Husson College in a dramatic 7-6 elimination game Saturday night at Ward Park, they were thinking about last season.

While they were torching the Terriers for five runs on six hits in the first inning of Sunday’s game, they were thinking of last season.

As freshman starting pitcher Greg Kimball was mowing through the Thomas lineup like a new John Deere over grass blades, even he was thinking about last year.

And after the final out of the Monks’ emphatic 14-0 win in Sunday afternoon’s NAIA Region X Independent Tournament title game was made on an infield pop-up, they thought about last year again for a moment and then celebrated … This year.

The Monks avenged two straight losses to the underdog Terriers in last season’s tourney final and won their third New England championship in the last four years and 11th in the last 16 behind a 14-hit attack and an unflappable freshman’s left arm.

“That motivated us more than anything today,” said senior first baseman Jesse LaCasse, who led the Monks’ offense with his 15th home run of the season, a double and four RBIs. “Losing to Thomas last year was huge and it turned out exactly the same way this year where they came back to play us after losing their first game. There was no way there was going to be a repeat of last year.”

Instead, the 26-16 Monks will travel either to New York or New Jersey to play the winner of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference title game between Dominican and Caldwell College. The first-round NAIA super regional using a best-of-three format will take place Friday and Saturday.

LaCasse delivered a big early blow as he whacked a curveball over the left-field fence for a two-run blast. Jake Rodden then followed suit two batters later as he belted a fastball from starter Chad Stowell over the right-field fence for another 350-foot, two-run shot.

That gave Kimball all the support he’d need as he faced the minimum number of batters through four innings and allowed only one Thomas runner to get as far as second base.

“Kimball did a hell of a job to shut us down,” said coach Greg King, whose Terriers wind up 18-18. “We’re getting 13 to 15 hits a game and came into this tournament hitting .330 as a team. It was almost like our guys were sleepwalking, like they didn’t even know we were here.

“He’s one of the toughest lefties we’ve faced all year. Every time we got up to bat, within two pitches we were down 0-2 in the count.”

Kimball (5-1) struck out 10 and walked two in his three-hit gem.

“We had a good plan going in,” Kimball said. “We used fastballs inside and set them up that way. I was hitting my spots and working them inside-out, or just punching inside and keeping them there.”

Thomas reliever Jeremy Stanford shut the Monks down by retiring eight straight batters in three scoreless innings, but Saint Joseph’s erupted again in the fifth.

Rusty Rutherford led off with a homer to right. Two batters later, Lucas Hannigan singled home LaCasse, who had walked, stolen second and advanced on a passed ball. A sacrifice bunt and two walks later, Jim Becvar singled in two runs.

Saint Joseph’s capped its scoring in the eighth as Dave Wellington led off with a homer to right-center, LaCasse hit a two-run double, and Hannigan had an RBI single.

Thomas, Saint Joseph’s earn wins

At Standish Saturday, the Terriers plated a run in the bottom of the seventh in Game 5 to lift them to a 7-6 win and a berth in the championship game. Saint Joseph’s had topped Husson 19-2 in Game 4, and the two losses eliminated the Braves of Bangor.

Thomas topped Lyndon State 13-1 in Game 3 Saturday.

In Game 4, the Monks pounded out 22 hits, including four singles by Howard Rutherford (three RBIs) and scored 10 runs in the second inning. Jesse LaCasse homered, singled twice and racked up three RBIs. John McGlinn and Kyle Mathieu each singled twice for Husson.

In Game 5, Aaron Bonenfant, Scott Brawn and Travis Hotham each doubled for Thomas. Ryan O’Connor hit three singles and Brawn added two singles.

Josh Ferguson hit a home run for the Braves and Deric Prescott added a pinch-hit double.

(Saturday, Game 4)

St. Joseph’s (25-16) 0(10)0 500 220 – 19 22 1

Husson 0 0 0 100 010 – 2 8 2

Dan, Berry (7), Cowperthwaite (8), Beckwith (9) and McIntosh, Prunier; Dionne, Reynolds (4) and McGlinn

(Saturday, Game 5)

Husson (22-20) 000 013 020 0 – 6 11 0

Thomas (18-17) 005 000 010 1 – 7 17 2

Dubay, Reynolds (7) and Worcester; Owens, Lenihan (9) and Brawn

MONKS 14, TERRIERS 0

Thomas (18-18) Saint Joseph’s (26-16)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Bonenfant, 2b 3 0 0 0 Becvar, ss 3 2

O’Donnell, 2b 0 0 0 0 Exley, rf 3 0

O’Connor, rf 3 0 1 0 Mirabello, rf 1 2 0

a-Lenihan 1 0 0 0 Rutherford, cf 5 2 2

Hotham, 1b 4 0 0 0 LaCasse, 1b 4 3 4

Sibley, 3b 3 0 1 0 McIntosh, c 5 0 0

Brawn, c 3 0 0 0 Prunier, c 0 0 0

Blair, c 0 0 0 0 Hannigan, 2b 5 1 2

Simpson, cf 3 0 0 0 Rodden, dh 4 1 2

Porter, lf 3 0 1 0 Lambert, 3b 4 1 0

Coughlin, dh 3 0 0 0 Wellington, lf 2 2 1

Pelletier, ss 3 0 0 0

Totals 29 0 3 0 Totals 36 14 14 13

a-struck out for O’Connor in ninth

Thomas 000 000 000 ? 0

Saint Joseph’s 500 050 04x ? 14

E? Simpson; LOB? Thomas 4; Saint Joseph’s 6; 2B? LaCasse; 3B? Rutherford; HR? Rutherford (3), LaCasse (15), Rodden (1), Wellington (2); DP? Becvar-LaCasse; S? Rodden; SB? Becvar, Mirabello, LaCasse

Thomas IP H R ER BB SO

Stowell (L,4-5) 2/3 5 5 5 0 0

Stanford 4 5 5 4 5 6

Dow 3 1/3 6 4 4 1 0

Saint Joseph’s IP H R ER BB SO

Kimball (W,5-1) 9 3 0 0 2 10

HBP? Becvar (Dow); WP? Stanford; PB ? Brawn; T? 2:14; ATT? 200 (est.)