Confidence key for Winkin’s Braves Pitching depth, defense to be key components of Husson baseball team

BANGOR – You could tell by the twinkle in his eyes that 84-year-old John Winkin has the same enthusiasm for baseball that he has always possessed.

The former Colby College and University of Maine baseball coach will begin his first season guiding the fortunes of the Husson College Braves after replacing 15-year coach John Kolasinski, who left to take the coaching position at Siena Heights University (Mich.).

Winkin, who has a career mark of 934-670-11, assisted Kolasinski for eight years.

“We’re pretty promising. It’s just a matter of playing the game with confidence,” said Winkin at media day Wednesday. “We have pretty good pitching depth, I think we might be able to play defense and we might fool people offensively.”

The Braves are coming off a 22-17 season but have some big shoes to fill.

First baseman-pitcher Craig Harvey, who hit .348 with 34 RBIs and was 7-1 on the mound with a 1.81 earned run average, is academically ineligible. His brother, slick-fielding Jason Harvey (.346), is now the starting shortstop at the University of Maine. Pitcher Jeremy York (4-1, 4.34) is also gone.

“I think we’re going to have a real good pitching staff,” said senior righty Barrett Dionne, who was 3-0 with a 5.70 ERA and has recovered from late-season elbow problems. “We’ve got a lot of young guys coming in but they look real good right now. As long as everybody stays healthy, our staff should be just as good as last year.”

Dionne will be joined in the rotation by juniors Aaron Brideau and Mike Cowperthwaite, sophomore Travis Tripp and freshman Chris Sargent.

Senior closer-third baseman Josh Ferguson (five saves), senior Paul Klink and sophomore Chris McInnis provide experience in the bullpen, where they will be joined by freshmen Bob Webber, Jim Gray and Josh Gott.

Senior Jason Folsom, who led the team with a .391 average, four homers and 36 RBIs, headlines the list of everyday players along with Ferguson (.367, 20 RBIs, 40 runs, 14 doubles, 17 stolen bases).

Versatile junior Billy Kane, a .378 hitter with 24 RBIs, could be a valuable commodity in the lineup if an eligibility issue is cleared up, according to Winkin.

Sophomore Justin Spencer (.290-4-28, 11 steals) is back in center field with juniors Brideau and George Tripp expected to flank him.

Junior Steve Estes (.293) and freshman Matt Malone will be designated hitter candidates along with Kane.

Freshman Adam Sheehan will replace Jason Harvey at shortstop and junior Kyle Mathieu will replace Craig Harvey at first. Shawn Henderson, a junior, returns at second base.

“We aren’t a power-hitting team but we’re versatile and we’ll do a lot of things,” said Winkin.

“We’ll be more of a National League team than an American League team [offensively],” added Folsom. “We’ll probably bunt the ball, move runners over and try to drive them in. We don’t have much power but we have a lot of gap hitters. We definitely have the potential to be a good hitting team.”

Husson opens its Florida spring trip against Rhode Island College next Wednesday.