Monks’ Clapp delivers in clutch GSA product sparks Saint Joseph’s

STANDISH – St. Joseph’s College junior third baseman Mark Clapp of Blue Hill was having a miserable day during Saturday’s North Atlantic Conference winners’ bracket game against Husson College.

But that all changed with one swing of the bat.

Clapp belted a two-run, opposite-field homer with one out in the top of the 10th inning to give the Monks a wild 11-9 triumph that sent the host school and top seed into Sunday’s championship round.

St. Joseph’s went on to win its second straight title 17-6 over Husson on Sunday.

Prior to his homer, Clapp had gone 0-for-4 with a sacrifice fly and committed two errors that led to three unearned runs.

“I needed to pick myself up,” said the former George Stevens Academy star.

A Brian Schools single and a throwing error by losing pitcher Jon Tefft on Wade Oliver’s sacrifice bunt had put runners on first and second with nobody out.

Clapp was given the bunt sign but pulled the bat back thinking the pitch was a ball, and Schools wandered too far off second and got picked off.

Clapp atoned by drilling a 2-1 fastball over the fence in right-center field for his third homer of the season and of his career.

“I felt good [at the plate] all day. I was looking for a pitch up, something I could drive,” said Clapp. “He threw me a fastball up and outside. I knew I hit it well but I thought it was going to be a triple in the gap. But it kept carrying and carrying in the wind.”

Tefft said, “It was in toward the middle of the plate a couple of inches too much. It’s a game of inches. I missed by a couple of inches.”

Husson had an opportunity to win it in the bottom of the ninth after Chris McInnis answered Dustin Spiller’s solo homer in the top of the ninth with a sharp RBI single to right off reliever Sam Tupper.

The Eagles loaded the bases with one out but pinch-hitter Duston Thomas hit Tupper’s first pitch on one hop back to the pitcher to start an inning-ending 1-2-3 double play.

“I hit it well but right back at him and he made a nice play,” said Thomas.

Tupper said he knew Thomas was cold coming off the bench “so I went with the pitch [fastball] I had been spotting [well] and tried to keep it low in the zone in order to get him to hit a ground ball so we could get a double play. Fortunately, it came right back to me. It was pretty much a charity hop.”

The game was a seesaw affair.

Husson jumped out to 3-0 and 4-2 leads but St. Joseph’s rallied for five runs in the third as the Monks capitalized on three walks, a late throw on a fielder’s choice, an error by first baseman Andrew Patterson, two singles and Clapp’s sacrifice fly.

Husson overcame an 8-5 deficit with three runs in the eighth on McInnis’ single, two walks, and Clapp’s throwing error on Devin Potvin’s RBI grounder.

St. Joseph’s 025 000 101 – 11 11 2

Husson 310 001 031 – 9 11 5

Hughes, Strout (7), Tupper (8), Johnson (10) and Wood; DeRosa, Adolphsen (4), Tefft (10) and McGinley, Potvin (8)