Statistics can be misleading.

But not in the case of the St. Joseph’s College Monks, who will host the double-elimination NAIA New England Baseball Championships beginning Friday on Larry Mahaney Diamond at Ward Park in Standish.

The Monks from Standish have a school-record 36 wins. They have suffered only four losses, two to archrival Husson College of Bangor. They are hitting a lofty .369 as a team and sport an equally impressive 2.50 earned run average.

Top-seeded St. Joseph’s will meet No. 4 Castleton State of Vermont, 13-14, in the 7 p.m. game Friday after No. 2 Husson, 19-11, opens the tourney against No. 3 Thomas, 15-16, at 3.

According to St. Joseph’s nine-year head coach Will Sanborn, senior center fielder Steve Osborne of Millinocket is leading NCAA Division III – St. Joseph’s has dual affiliation – in homers (21) and runs batted in (75). He owns several school records including career hits (212) and homers (41). He is currently hitting .486 and has struck out only 14 times in 142 at-bats.

“I had no idea I’d have a season like this. I really wanted to have a great senior year, but this has been unexpected,” said Osborne, who takes pride in his low number of strikeouts.

“I’ve hit five or six homers with two strikes. I choke up, move closer to the plate, and do what I can to prevent the pitcher from striking me out,” said Osborne.

He also said he has become a more patient hitter.

“I’ve been getting good pitches to hit. I’ll work the count and when the pitcher makes a mistake, I’ll be on it,” said Osborne, who has heard from several major league scouts.

“There has never been a person who has put up the numbers he has,” said Husson’s John Montgomery, Osborne’s former Stearns High School and Old Town-Orono American Legion teammate. “And you may never see it again. What he is doing is remarkable.”

The Monks also have a special chemistry, according to Sanborn and reliever J.P. Pyne.

“It’s a hard thing to explain,” said Sanborn. “There is just a feeling on this team that we are going to win every game, somehow. Whether it be early or late, with pitching, defense, or hitting.

“We don’t bunch up our mistakes, and when we make a mistake, we don’t dwell on it,” added Sanborn.

Pyne said the team is unselfish.

“The biggest difference between this team and our previous teams is that everybody has a role and everybody enjoys their roles,” said Pyne.

Husson coach John Kolasinski said, “St. Joseph’s has had a great year. They’ve done all the little things they’ve had to do to win ballgames.”

In addition to Osborne, St. Joseph’s has received exceptional seasons from first baseman Jesse LaCasse of Madison (.424-5 homers-36 RBIs), the platoon DH combo of lefthanded-hitting Greg Dumais (.422-2-21) and righty Adam Newell (.414-3-22), SS Jim Becvar (.386-1-18) and 2B Lucas Hannigan (.377-4-40).

Matt Berry (4-0, 1.69 earned run average), Brent Dan (7-0, 2.13 ERA), and Pyne (3-1, 7 saves, 0.90) anchor the pitching staff.

Husson has been paced by 2B Donnie Sawyer (.429-2-24), DH-P-OF Montgomery (.374-2-20) and C-DH-3B John McGlinn (.365-3-28) and pitchers Rob Worcester (4-2, 3.48) and Montgomery (7-2, 3.89).

Thomas has been led by 3B Scott Sibley (.391-4-25), C Lance Haynes (.347-1-18), and 1B Travis Hotham (.346-0-16) along with P-LF Geoff Burnham (5-3, 4.81; .301-0-16).

Castleton State has been powered by Luke Goyette (.480-1-23), Chad Whittemore (.390-1-25) and Jesse Kyhill (.367-0-21) along with pitcher Jason Goguen (3-0, 2.98).