BANGOR – The Husson College baseball team will have plenty of new faces in its lineup this season and most of the names will be familiar to Eastern Maine baseball enthusiasts.

The first baseman will be Bucksport freshman Craig Harvey, an exceptional hitter for Dave Gonyar’s Golden Bucks who makes his return to baseball after a two-year absence.

Presque Isle’s Jonas Bard will patrol center field and Newport’s Shawn Henderson will be the starting second baseman when the Braves open their season March 7 in the Warner Southern College Tournament in Florida.

“We’re young but talented,” said 14th-year head coach John Kolasinski. “Our young kids can play the game. We’ve also got good senior leadership from John McGlinn and Mike Worcester and three of the five pitchers in our starting rotation have good experience.

“We’ll come along,” added Kolasinski.

Worcester said “We’ll do all right. This is as deep a pitching staff as we’ve had in while.”

Senior ace Dave Dostie of Augusta agreed.

“We’ve got a lot of young pitchers as well as experienced pitchers. If somebody is struggling, we’ve got a lot of people who can come in and throw strikes. We have a lot of guys who can give us five or six strong innings,” said Dostie.

Dostie will head up a starting rotation that will also include Rockland senior Travis Reynolds and Friendship senior Keith Simmons along with Bangor sophomore Barrett Dionne and Waterville freshman Josh Dubay.

Hermon senior Eric Reynolds, New Hampshire sophomore Paul Klink and Winslow freshman Kyle Mathieu will be among the relief corps.

“Dave Dostie could become a legitimate stopper for us,” said Kolasinski. “And the other guys have the ability to win games and keep us in games.”

Offensively, Kolasinski said he doesn’t have much power and what he termed “zero speed” but he does have a bunch of gap hitters who could hit for high average.

“I think we’ll make better contact than we have in the past,” said Dostie. “Everyone in our lineup will be capable of making contact. In the past, we had some guys who could hit the ball hard and others who didn’t make much contact.”

Catcher-left fielder McGlinn of Presque Isle and catcher Worcester of Harrington were All-Maine Athletic Conference selections a year ago and will be two of the offensive catalysts.

Harvey was an outstanding hitter in high school and will hit in one of the RBI slots in the order.

Old Town senior right fielder Jared Foster is another run producer and Kolasinski noted that for the first time in quite a while, there are some pitchers who can swing the bat with Simmons heading up the list.

New Brunswick sophomore Josh Ferguson will be the starting shortstop and Millinocket sophomore Jason Folsom will start at third as they will join Harvey and Henderson in the infield.

“Our infield is as solid as I’ve seen it in a little while,” said McGlinn, who added that he expects them to see most of the playing time which will help them develop a chemistry.

Foster and Bard will be joined in the outfield by McGlinn or Simmons.

Worcester will catch and he could also be used as the designated hitter or first baseman.

McGlinn, Simmons or Rockland senior Deric Prescott could also see DH duty.

“I think our infield will come along defensively,” said Kolasinski. “I am worried about our outfield and their tracking of balls in the gaps.”

The Braves finished 20-13 a year ago but Dostie said this is a more determined Husson team.

“Everyone’s focus has been tremendous. Everybody has been putting extra time in,” said Dostie.

Rounding out the roster are infielder Kei Takahashi, first baseman Andy Ham, OF-C Jason Carbonneau, utility player Cliff Urquhart, C-IF Billy Kane, C Seth Stoddard, OF-P Aaron Brideau, 1B Tim Baylies and IF James Tribou.

Husson, St. Joseph’s on schedule

Husson and Saint Joseph’s have developed one of the fiercest, most intense college basketball rivalries the state of Maine has ever known.

The Monks earned bragging rights Monday night, beating the Braves in the Maine Athletic Conference men’s basketball championship game at the Augusta Civic Center.

It was the third meeting of the season between the two squads and all three went down to the final seconds.

“Look at rivalries in New England. I can’t imagine there’s too many of them that over the years have had so many close games, so many things that might have happened on the extra side of things,” said Husson coach Warren Caruso.

Monday’s game represented a crossroads of sorts for the rivalry.

Saint Joseph’s of Standish announced earlier this season that it will become an NCAA Division III independent program beginning next winter. That means coach Rick Simonds’ Monks no longer will be battling Husson of Bangor for supremacy in the MAC.

Husson, an NAIA Division II program, and the remaining five schools will next season become members of the newly formed Sunrise Athletic Conference. The league will include newcomers Fisher College of Boston and Vermont-based Lyndon State College and the College of St. Joseph.

While Saint Joseph’s will be out of the conference picture, the Monks will remain on the schedules of some Sunrise schools, including Husson.

“We’ll still have two games a year with them, regular season,” said Husson coach Warren Caruso. “I think it’s something that’s good for the state, it’s good for the basketball.”