Brewer’s Justin Spencer had a productive freshman season at Husson College last spring, hitting .290 with four homers, 28 runs batted in and 11 stolen bases.

He has taken his game to another level this season.

Center fielder Spencer is hitting .432 and leads the team in homers (4), hits (60), triples (6), runs scored (47), stolen bases (8) and doubles (11).

He is actually tied for the team lead in doubles with Shawn Henderson.

Spencer needs six more hits to break Husson’s single-season record.

“He has had a great year,” said first-year coach John Winkin. “He has probably been our best player. He has a lot of talent. He has matured at the plate. And he can really run.”

“He has had a fantastic year,” concurred Husson senior catcher and co-captain Jason Folsom. “He has been seeing the ball well and has hit some balls I thought would never come down.”

Junior first baseman-catcher-designated hitter Billy Kane said Spencer has “laid off pitches he used to swing at” and has made himself a “lot better two-strike hitter.”

He also called Spencer “an amazing athlete” who can “track the ball well” in the outfield.

Spencer, a running back on the football team, has been the Braves’ leadoff hitter but he will be moved to third in the lineup for this weekend’s important four-game set with Sunrise Conference rival Fisher College (Mass.) because senior third baseman and co-captain Josh Ferguson has been lost for the season with a knee injury.

Ferguson was hitting .445 with 28 RBIs and 35 runs scored when he suffered the injury in a collision at first base against Southern Maine last weekend.

“That really hurts. It’s a big blow. We won’t have the range we had. And he was also our closer,” said Winkin.

“He’s one of the best infielders I’ve ever played with,” said Kane.

Left fielder-pitcher Aaron Brideau said Ferguson’s leadership will also be missed.

Kyle Mathieu will probably move from first to third and Kane will play first. Folsom could also have played third but Winkin said he wants to keep Folsom behind the plate to maximize his leadership abilities as well as his talent.

“Today was the first day I played third [during an intra-squad scrimmage] and I loved it,” said Winslow’s Mathieu. “I played third all through high school.”

Mathieu is Husson’s leading hitter at .454 and his 31 RBIs are also tops.

Aaron Brideau is the other regular above .400 at .448.

Folsom is hitting .371 with three homers and 29 RBIs and right fielder-pitcher Chris McInnis is hitting .372.

The resilient pitching staff has overcome the loss of senior righty Barrett Dionne, who had arm surgery after winning his first two decisions.

Travis Tripp (6-2, 5.04 earned run average) and Mike Cowperthwaite (5-3, 4.96) lead the Braves in wins but freshmen Chris Sargent (3-2, 2.93) and Bob Webber (3-1, 5.19) have provided some quality innings along with Brideau (2-2, 5.54) and Chris McInnis (1-1, 4.00).

Injuries have prevented Husson from having their entire roster available but they are dealing with it.

“We’re trying to make the best of it. A lot of people have had to play a lot of different positions. A lot of the young guys are starting to come through for us,” said Folsom.

Husson, 22-13 overall and 8-0 in conference play, will host a three-team, double-elimination Sunrise Conference tourney beginning next Thursday and they will need to have a productive weekend against Fisher and then win that tourney to receive consideration for a berth in the NAIA Tournament.

UNE’s Stults gets NCAA grant

Missy Stults of the University of New England in Biddeford has earned one of 58 NCAA postgraduate scholarships given to winter sports student-athletes.

Stults, a senior from Goshen, Ind., will receive $7,500. She is one of only six women in Division III to earn the award and is the only one from a New England Institution.

Stults also was runner-up for the Walter Byers Scholarship, the NCAA’s top academic honor for student-athletes. The marine biology/environmental science major has a 3.87 grade point average and finished her basketball career as UNE’s leading scorer with 1,808 points.

Ohmart shines at Clark U.

Hilary Ohmart had a solid year as a diver for the Clark University swimming and diving team.

Ohmart, a sophomore from Brewer, ranks is fourth all-time at Clark in the one-meter diving, 10-dive program, with 226.50 points and is fifth at one meter, six dives, with 185.65 points.