Kane directs Eagles into NAC tourney No. 2 Husson to face Becker

Husson College senior catcher Billy Kane isn’t going to bowl over teams with his statistics.

He will enter today’s North Atlantic Conference Tournament game against Becker College (Mass.) hitting .257.

But Eagles baseball coach John Winkin will tell you Kane has been pivotal to their success.

“He’s a natural leader. He has been invaluable as a leader and in the way he has handled the pitching staff. He has taken command of the staff,” said Winkin who compared Kane to Eddie Hackett, who caught for Winkin when he was coaching at the University of Maine. “He gets the pitchers to do what they do best.”

Winkin is hoping Husson’s pitching depth will carry the Eagles to a NAC title. Host and top seed St. Joseph’s of Standish, 29-9, will open the tourney against 18-20 Castleton State at 2 p.m. with No. 2 Husson, 23-15, facing 22-15 Becker at 6 p.m.

The losers will play at 10 a.m. Saturday, the winners will meet at 2 p.m. and the teams with one loss will play at 6 p.m. The championship round starts Sunday at noon.

Kane takes pride in calling a good game.

“I like calling a good game and letting the pitcher go out there and showcase his talent,” said Kane. “I love it when the pitcher has the pitch gripped in his glove, knowing what I’m going to call [before I call it]. That’s when you’re working well together.”

The Eagles will enter the tourney with a 4.68 earned run average that has dropped dramatically in recent weeks.

Winkin said Kane has benefited from the fact he has coached the Penquis American Legion team for three seasons. He was an assistant for two years and will be the head coach for the second year this summer.

“Coaching has helped a great deal. You understand things not only from a player’s perspective but from a coach’s perspective as well,” explained the Bradford native who played at Central High School in Corinth.

He said the main key to calling a good game is “getting the pitchers to hit their spots. If they can do that, then you can mix up the game plan. If they’re down in the count but I know they can throw off-speed pitches for strikes, that’s big.”

The deep Eagle staff has been paced by Bob Webber (4-4, 3.28 ERA), Travis Tripp (6-2, 4.15) and Mike Cowperthwaite (3-4, 4.72) along with relievers James Gray (4-0, 4.01, 3 saves) and Jon Tefft (4 saves).

“The pitching depth has been huge for us,” said Kane.

Offensively, Husson has been led by Kyle Mathieu (.357-0-24), Aaron Brideau (.346-1-20), Chris McInnis (.321-1-21), Justin Spencer (.320-4-33) and Sean Brawn (.316-4-35).

Becker has been sparked by Keith Renaud (.449-8-24, 20 stolen bases), Nick Clemente (.374-0-18), Kevin Renaud (.357-6-38, 14 SBs) and Jim Bombard (.340-5-25) along with pitchers Mike Carbonneau (2-1, 1.97) and Ryan Pacyna (4-1, 3.86).

St. Joseph’s features lefty aces Charlie Furbush (6-0, 1.01) and Greg Kimball (4-3, 3.86) along with offensive catalysts Derek McIntosh (.451-9-38), Furbush (.409-2-31), Andy Exley (.386-3-35) and Luke Enman (.342-5-28).