The Husson College baseball team has been using a new 70- by 25-foot area downstairs at Newman Gym for hitting and pitching drills.

The area used to be the rifle range and then it became a recording studio for the New England School of Communications.

The facility contains two tunnels in which two hitters can take batting practice at the same time. There are portable mounds so pitchers can also use the tunnels.

The Braves still use the Newman Gym as the tunnel space is limited.

“You can have two live hitters in the facility downstairs but, in the gym, we have room for just one live hitter with a second hitter being able to just bunt,” explained 15th-year Husson coach John Kolasinski.

The downstairs facility also takes a strain off the need to secure gym time.

“[Wednesday] is a perfect example. There are two home basketball games,” said Kolasinski. “So we would have had to practice at 6 in the morning or 10 at night.”

The hitting tunnels downstairs were first used last summer by the teams at the Senior League World Series.

Husson assistant coach John Winkin said the downstairs facility is a “great help” but was quick to point out it doesn’t provide an area for infield or outfield [fielding] drills.

“We need an indoor sports facility for all of our teams, especially now that we have football,” said Winkin, who would favor a field house surrounded by a track like they have at Bowdoin College, Colby or the University of Maine.

The Husson baseball team, coming off a 22-20 season, has been practicing since Jan. 14 and will leave March 2 for its spring trip in Florida.

“We should have a pretty good defensive infield with Jason Harvey at shortstop. We’ll move [former shortstop] Josh Ferguson over to third. Having [outfielder] Tony Laprino back from his arm injury and [first baseman] Tony Creek back from his accounting internship will help. Their bats will make a big difference,” said Kolasinski. “And we could have three lefties in our starting rotation. We’re usually hard-pressed to have one on the team.”

The lefties are Craig Harvey, Jeremy York and Aaron Brideau.

Husson is scheduled to host the Sunrise Conference Tournament May 2-4 and the winner of the tournament will host the NAIA Area 10 Regional.

King preseason All-American

Ally King of Colby College in Waterville has been named a preseason second-team All-American by Inside Lacrosse Magazine.

The senior was an International Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association third-team All-America pick last year after leading the White Mules with 23 goals and 37 assists.

Machon honored by WNE

Monica Machon recently was named the Western New England College women’s tennis rookie of the year.

Machon, a freshman from Ellsworth, put together a 20-6 record (10-3 in singles, 10-3 in doubles) to help the Golden Bears post a 9-2 record.