Coach Will Sanborn talks often of offending the baseball gods. His St. Joseph’s team must be doing and saying the right things lately.
The Monks begin play in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference tournament Thursday night after winning 11 of their last 12 games. Their only blemish was a 6-5 loss to Johnson & Wales. St. Joseph’s is the tournament’s second seed with a 13-3 conference record and plays No. 3 Suffolk at home.
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The 11-1 stretch started after the University of Southern Maine beat St. Joseph’s 16-2 on April 9. It was the Monks’ fourth straight loss at that point. Since then, the heart of the batting order — Joe Coyne (.348), Mike Pratt (.360), Brandon Chase (.373) and Alex Lorenc (.351) — has helped give the five-man pitching rotation the run support it needed.
Chase (Naples, Lake Region High) was particularly hot last week with three doubles, three triples and a home run in eight at-bats over two games.
Coyne (Duxbury, Mass.) knocked in 10 runs for the week, going 13 for 31 with four doubles and two home runs.
Sanborn will probably start either Chad Rafferty (Keene, N.H.) or Tyler Laverriere (Biddeford) Thursday. Rafferty (4-2, 3.92 ERA) has been the ace of the staff. He started the game against USM, which ballooned his ERA. Laverriere (4-2, 1.01) has also been effective in shutting down opposing hitters.
Johnson & Wales (13-3) got the tournament’s first seed. St. Joseph’s is the defending champion. Both teams got first-round byes and play the winners of Wednesday’s preliminary games.
The conference tournament winner gets the automatic bid to the NCAA Division III regional tournament. GNAC teams do not have a history of receiving at-large bids.
BOWDOIN COLLEGE
The New England Small College Athletic Conference baseball season has another week to go. Bowdoin won its 12th straight game Wednesday and has two conference doubleheaders remaining. …
The women’s lacrosse team (13-2) has the third seed in the NESCAC tournament and plays Bates in a first-round game noon Saturday at home.
UNIVERSITY OF NEW ENGLAND
Lindsay Forrette (Chicopee, Mass.) and Emily Lodge (Lyman) were named co-Female Senior Scholar-Athlete of the Year, while Tyler Thomas (Mt. Pleasant, N.Y.) was recognized as the Male Senior Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Forrette, an animal behavior major, is a four-year cross country runner for the Nor’easters and served as a team captain her senior season. She is a three-time Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) academic all-conference selection. Lodge competed two years in soccer and lacrosse after transferring from Franklin Pierce University. She’s a medical biology major. On the soccer field she was a two-time all-conference selection, named to the East Region National Scholar Team, chosen all-New England, and participated in the New England Senior Bowl. As a lacrosse player, she was an all-conference selection her junior year and has scored 29 career goals while being one of the team’s top defensive players in her two seasons at UNE. Lodge is an academic all-conference honoree. Thomas was the men’s lacrosse captain and career leader in goals scored (133) and total points (217) going into Thursday night’s final regular-season game with Curry College. A repeat academic all-conference selection, he is a political science major.
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MAINE
Senior Jennifer Durham (Doylestown, Pa.) threw the discus 137 feet, 2 inches at the Aloha Relays at Bowdoin College last Saturday, giving her the school record and moving her up to 16th on the national NCAA Division III performance list. Sophomore teammate Peyton Dostie (Standish, Bonny Eagle) ran 14.95 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles, setting another school record. That time is 25th nationally. …
Senior Orion Winkler (Brownfield, Fryeburg Academy) valuted 15-71/4 to win the State of Maine Outdoor Track and Field pole vault championship for the third time. His vault also set a school record and is the 12th best vault in the nation among Division III vaulters. The women’s and men’s teams compete Saturday in the Little East Conference/New England Alliance Championships at Bridgewater State on Saturday.
Steve Solloway can be contacted at 791-6412 or at:
ssolloway@pressherald.com
Twitter: SteveSolloway
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