Monks win NAC crown St. Joseph’s tops Husson for NCAA tourney spot

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STANDISH – Given the relative ease with which the Saint Joseph’s College baseball team scored runs and dispatched opponents in the North Atlantic Conference championships, it’s difficult to believe the Monks were struggling as they entered the tournament.

The second-seeded Monks made it look easy for a third straight day as they downed Husson College 8-3 Sunday afternoon to win their third straight NAC title and earn another bid to the NCAA Division III New England Regional championship.

“We got off to a tremendous start, going unbeaten in Florida and starting out 12-0 and we kind of cruised along until the last couple weeks, when we were really up and down,” said head coach Will Sanborn, whose Monks are now 30-8. “We weren’t hitting the ball and our pitching was inconsistent, but we just put it all together in this tournament. We haven’t hit like that in three weeks.”

The Monks were a hitting machine in the tourney, piling up 43 hits and scoring 30 runs in their last three games.

“We’ve been trying to do that all tournament, get on top early and keep up the pressure. I don’t know what it was. I guess we just put in a lot of work and it paid off. Things just took off after that first game,” said shortstop Luke Enman, who led the charge for Saint Joseph’s Sunday with three hits.

Enman was named tourney MVP after hitting an RBI double in the fourth, a two-run homer to right in the sixth, and a single in the eighth.

Monks No. 7 hitter Andrew Wood had three singles and an RBI as his team got hits up and down the lineup.

“I started the year batting fourth and so did [Ben] Grant-Roy,” said Wood. “I think you can probably put anyone in this lineup anywhere in the order and we’d still do well offensively. That’s how this team is.”

Nearly lost in the Monks’ offensive show was the pitching of No. 4 starter Ben Cutter. The junior lefty held Husson scoreless for the first three innings while allowing just one hit.

Cutter (6-1) allowed four hits, two runs and three walks in six innings. He also struck out three against the 14-22 Eagles.

“The biggest thing for me was getting ahead in the count,” Cutter said. “My best pitches were the fastball and changeup. I wanted to get ahead with the fastball and try to get them to chase the changeup.”

Three straight hits, a sacrifice fly, and a double turned a 2-1 Monks lead into 5-1 in the bottom of the fourth.

Husson was led by Andrew Patterson, who hit an RBI double in the fourth and a single. He also pitched solidly for four of his 5 1/3 innings.

“To their credit, they came through whenever there was any kind of break, whether it was a well-timed hit or a mistake or what,” said Husson coach John Winkin. “We hit a lot of balls in the air. At one point we had 14 fly balls.”

Winkin, whose Eagles had 14 total flyouts, was pleased despite the score, because it was “probably the best stretch of games we’ve played all season.”

Saint Joseph’s players Wade Oliver of Owls Head and Sam Tupper of Yarmouth were also named to the all-tourney team along with Dover-Foxcroft native Danny White of Husson and Eagles teammates Nick Arthers of Belfast and Sam Adolphsen of Union. The other selections were University of Maine-Farmington players Peter McLaughlin of Benton and Aaron Wolfe of Wilton and Castleton State’s Tom Cummings and Ron Cahill.

MONKS 8, EAGLES 3

(Sunday Afternoon)

Husson (14-22) Saint Joseph’s (30-8)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

White, 2b 4 1 0 0 Oliver, rf 5 2 0

Sheehan, ss 3 0 1 0 Martin, lf 2 0 1

Robicheau, lf 4 0 1 0 Gorsun, lf 1 0

Arthers, 3b 2 2 1 1 L. Enman, ss 5 1 3

Patterson, p-dh 4 0 2 1 Spiller, cf 5 1

Miller, rf 4 0 1 1 Clapp, 3b 5 0 0

Garland, 1b 4 0 1 0 Grant-Roy, 1b 4 1 0

McGinley, c 3 0 0 0 D. Enman, 1b 0 0 0

Keefe, ph 1 0 0 0 Wood, c 3 1 3 0

Biggers, cf 4 0 0 0 O’Brien, c 0 0 0

Doughty, dh 4 1 1 1

Schools, 2b 3 0 0 0

Totals 33 3 7 3 Totals 37 8 14 6

Husson 000 110 010 – 3

Saint Joseph’s 101 303 00x – 8

E-Arthers, Patterson, Miller; Clapp; LOB-Husson 7; Saint Joseph’s 9; 2B-Arthers, Patterson; Oliver, L. Enman, Doughty; 3B-Spiller; HR-L. Enman (7); DP-Clapp-School-Enman; S-Martin; SF-Arthers, Miller; Martin; SB-Wood

Husson IP H R ER BB SO

Patterson (L, 3-1) 5 2/3 12 8 7 0 5

Pease 1 1/3 1 0 0 0 1

Worster 1 1 0 0 0 1

Saint Joseph’s IP H R ER BB SO

Cutter (W, 6-1) 6 4 2 2 3 3

Keirstead 3 3 1 1 0 2

HBP-Schools, Wood (by Patterson); WP-Patterson, Pease; T-2:18; ATT-286