Young Braves helped Husson earn top seed Sunrise tourney opens Saturday

Husson College catcher Jason Folsom and third baseman Josh Ferguson put up good numbers as sophomores a year ago.

Bill Kane went 2-for-5 in 2001 and Justin Spencer was a medical redshirt last season. Both were freshmen.

All four have been major contributors to the Braves’ 20-15 campaign and top seed for Saturday’s double-elimination Sunrise Conference Tournament at the Winkin Baseball Complex on the Husson campus in Bangor.

The tourney was supposed to start Friday but was pushed back by expected inclement weather.

Husson, 14-4 in the conference, will play No. 4 Lyndon State (10-10, 12-14 overall) at 10:30 Saturday with No. 2 Thomas of Waterville, (14-6, 15-17 overall) taking on No. 3 UM-Farmington (10-10, 11-14 overall) at 3 p.m.

There will be three games Sunday beginning at 9 a.m. and the championship round will begin Monday at noon.

Ferguson, Folsom and Kane are Husson’s top three hitters and Spencer has produced a lot of punch in the bottom of the order.

Ferguson is hitting 84 points higher than he finished a year ago. He is currently at .375 with 2 homers, 20 RBIs and team-highs in runs (36) and stolen bases (14).

“I’ve worked harder this year. I watch the other guys, I’ve learned from guys who have played here before me and they instilled a work ethic in me,” said Ferguson. “I don’t care how I do as long as the team does well and we all seem to be jelling together. That makes me happy.”

Millinocket’s Folsom is hitting .374 with four homers and a team-high 30 RBIs after hitting .278 with two homers and 13 RBIs a year ago.

“Everybody has been getting on base for me and I’m hitting the curveball better than I ever have. I’ve kept my weight back,” said Folsom, who hits third in the order. “Having Craig Harvey hit behind me in the order has been a big help. I see a lot more pitches [to hit].”

Bradford’s Kane said being able to get batting practice in the new indoor batting cages has helped him hit .366 with 21 RBIs.

“We’ve all been able to get a lot more swings. I had a good fall season. I started off well and that always helps. I’ve also been seeing the ball better,” said Kane, who formerly played at Central High School in Corinth and didn’t get to play fall ball two years ago because he was attending Bridgewater State (Mass.).

Brewer’s Spencer missed all of last season with an ailment finally diagnosed as hyperventilation.

He has made up for lost time this season by hitting .312 with four homers and 27 RBIs. He also has 11 steals.

“I learned a lot from the other players. Tony Laprino helped me out a lot. So did [Aaron] Brideau. And [assistant] Coach [John] Winkin has helped me with my stride,” said Spencer. “I don’t focus on my stats. If I can help the team win, that’s all that matters.”

The other key catalysts for Husson have been the Harvey brothers: shortstop Jason (.364) and first baseman Craig (.328-2-28).

Seventh-year Thomas College coach Greg King said the tournament will be “the closest I’ve seen in my seven years.” His offensive catalysts are brothers Scott (.444-8-36) and Sean Brawn (.370-7-32) along with Jordan McDonald (.365), Aaron Bonenfant (.336) and Ryan O’Connor (.328-6-20).

James Writer (.407), Jeff Casavant (.340), Tom Ventura (.338-2-22) and Justin Quimby (.317) have paced UM-Farmington while Lyndon State features Tom Nutting (.380, 20 RBIs), Gregg Rose (.333, 27 RBIs) and Nick Merrill (.333).

The front-line pitchers include Husson’s Craig Harvey (6-1, 1.54 earned run average), Jeremy York (4-1) and Barrett Dionne (3-0); Thomas’ Chris Tetreault (5-1, 3.28) and Ryan Rulman (3-0, 2 saves, 3.00 ERA), UMF’s John Rutkiewicz (3-1, 2.10), Dan Fay (2-0, 3.79) and Casavant (2-4, 4.08) and Lyndon State’s Jared Carlson (3-2) and Nutting (4-0).