It wasn’t the type of season Husson College baseball coach John Winkin envisioned.

The Eagles finished a disappointing 15-21 and lost to rival Saint Joseph’s College of Standish in the North Atlantic Conference tournament championship game. However, Husson loses only three players and has a promising group of incoming players who will provide an optimistic outlook for 2008.

“If everyone returns and everyone is healthy, I’m very hopeful about next year. I’m really excited about it. I feel good about the experience the [returning] players got this year and I’m pleased with how recruiting is coming,” said Winkin. “We’ve landed some good infielders and a strong pitcher to replace the players we’ll be losing.”

He must replace two everyday players, the double-play combination of shortstop Adam Sheehan of Bucksport and second baseman Danny White of Dover-Foxcroft, two of the three captains. Sheehan hit .252 with a team-high 19 runs batted in and White hit .305 with 16 RBIs. His 24 runs scored tied Andrew Patterson for the team lead.

Workhorse pitcher James Gray of Corinth also graduates.

The 2007 season was frustrating, according to Winkin.

“If everyone was healthy and on schedule, we had a good shot at winning the championship. But we could never get in sync. Every day, somebody was sick, injured or had a problem,” he said.

The pitchers expected to headline his staff missed significant chunks of the season. Bob Webber, who was a redshirt last year due to elbow surgery, re-injured his arm and missed the last half of the season. Anthony DeRosa was sidelined three weeks by a minor head injury suffered in an auto accident and didn’t return until a week before the tournament.

They began the season as Winkin’s top two starters and Husson also lost closer Jon Tefft, who left the team for personal reasons.

The list of returnees is led by Veazie LF Jeff Miller, who hit a team-high .346 with 21 runs and 15 RBIs; Brewer 1B Patterson (.324, 17 RBIs), CF Bryan Biggers (.316, 15 RBIs) and C Brian McGinley (.306). Also back are Buxton RF Brett Garland (.246, 12 RBIs), Bucksport catcher Joe Robicheau (.238, 11 RBIs), DH Dennis Graham (.232) and Belfast 3B Nick Arthers (.203, 3 HR, 17 RBIs).

Newburgh 2B-OF Billy Shannon and Glenburn SS George Keefe will compete for more playing time next year.

Patterson and Arthers will serves as the co-captains.

Bangor’s DeRosa, who was 6-1 as a freshman, will head up a strong rotation along with Patterson (3-1 this season) and Presque Isle lefty Chad Lavway. The Eagles also received productive innings from Union’s Sam Adolphsen, Glenburn’s Keith Nason, Lee’s Gerry Worster and Hampden’s Chris Pease and Chris Morris.

Webber’s status is unknown as he recovers from his arm ailment.

Husson won’t have to contend with three-time NAC champ Saint Joseph’s next season as the Monks will leave the conference. Upstart Castleton State, the conference’s regular-season champ, UM-Farmington, Elms, Becker and Thomas of Waterville will be back in the NAC along with Husson.

Husson heads to golf nationals

The Husson College golf team is making its first trip to the NCAA Division III National Tournament.

The Eagles, who won the North Atlantic Conference title last fall, travel to Indianapolis, Ind., this weekend to play in the tournament’s opening rounds on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The two-round tournament will be played at Prairie View Golf Club in Carmel, Ind., and the Hawthorne Golf and Country Club in Fisher, Ind.

Husson compiled a record of 111-11-1 in head-to-head competition this past season to win its seventh conference title in the last eight years.

“The tough part for us is geographic. We have better weather in the fall than the spring, so that’s when we play our season, but most schools play in the spring,” said Husson coach Bruce MacGregor.

If that wasn’t bad enough, this spring’s weather made it nearly impossible for the Eagles to play regularly and shake off the rust that had built up over 51/2 months.

“This spring was just horrendous for us,” he said. “We’ve tried to play four tournaments but one was rained out, one was in rain and sleet, and one we went down only to find out it was rained out and rescheduled on a day we couldn’t make it.”

The last national tournament appearance for the Eagles was in 2003. They also made appearances in 1979, 1990, 1999, 2001 and 2002.

Senior Lance Libby of Sidney won four tournament individual titles to pace the Eagles and finished with a scoring average of 73.9 per 18 holes.

Freshman Chris Coffin of Presque Isle won the NAC individual title and was named NAC Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year. His scoring average per 18 holes was 76.6.

Sophomore Adam Duplisea of Hermon averaged 76.3. Seniors Jason Harvey of Bucksport, Brian St. Louis of Argyle, and Brian Johnson of Bangor finished with scoring averages of 79.2, 80.5, and 82.2. The team scoring average is 305 per round and its lowest round for the season was 295.

Maine collegians on track

Mainers enjoyed solid efforts on the track or in the field recently for out-of-state colleges.

Maria Millard of Orono was one of two Amherst College competitors to win an event at the NESCAC women’s track and field championships. The Jeffs’ senior tri-captain won the 400-meter hurdles with a school-record time of 1 minute, 3.53 seconds.

Ellsworth native Joey DeWitt placed seventh and eighth overall (second and third among Division II athletes) at the Brown Invitational. The University of Massachusetts Lowell junior ran the 1,500 meters in 3:55.62.

James Spaulding, a sophomore at the University of Southern Maine in Gorham, broke a school record by scoring 5,698 points in the decathlon at the Holy Cross Decathlon last Friday in Worcester, Mass.

The Lewiston native finished fifth among 22 competitors and qualified for the ECAC Championships and the New England Division III Championship.

Wilson named Bowdoin coach

Stacy Wilson, a former captain on the Canadian National Team, has been named the head women’s ice hockey coach at Bowdoin College in Brunswick.

Wilson inherits a program that is 120-33-9 since 2001. She replaces Heather Farrell, who was interim coach last season after two years as an assistant under Michele Amidon.

Wilson was an assistant at Minnesota-Duluth from 1999-2004 and helped the Bulldogs earn three straight Division I national championships.