Standish, ME - The Saint Joseph's College baseball
team saw their season come to an end on May 17th at the NCAA New
England Regional tournament in Harwich, MA. If you look a little
closer at the Monks' season, however, you will see a great deal to
celebrate.
On March 11th the Royal Blue opened their season in style with a
19-2 victory over Daniel Webster College in Orlando, FL. The Monks
proceeded to run the table in the Sunshine State, returning to New
England with a record of 7-0. St. Joe's went undefeated in Florida
for the first time since 2001. On April 1st, the Monks defeated
Plymouth State University in their home opener to push their record
to an amazing 12-0. The 12-0 start now stands as the best in
program history.
On April 15th, the Monks swept a doubleheader against
UMaine-Farmington to improve to 20-2 on the season. With the pair
of victories, Monks baseball reached the 20-win mark for the tenth
time in 15 years under head coach Will Sanborn. Just 10 days later,
the team defeated Salem State College to improve to 25-5, and give
Sanborn his eighth 25-win season. Perhaps the sweetest milestone,
though, came when the Monks collected their 30th win of the season
when they downed Husson College, 8-3, to capture the North Atlantic
Conference championship and secure a berth in the NCAA tournament.
It was the third consecutive 30-win season for the Monks and the
fifth time that Sanborn had reached the prestigious mark.
On May 16th, the Royal Blue entered the NCAA New England Regional
tournament for the second consecutive year. In the first round, the
Monks squared off against national powerhouse Eastern Connecticut
State University, dropping a 10-2 decision. The following day the
Monks fell to Williams College by a count of 12-7, ending the 2007
campaign with a record of 30-12.
Several individual performances stood out for the 2007 Monks, led
by NAC Player of the Year Luke Enman (Milan, NH).
The junior shortstop put up monstrous offensive numbers while
making things look easy in the field. Enman hit .429 (6th best in
program history), blasted 7 homeruns, and posted 50 runs batted in
(4th best in program history). Enman went 69-161 on the year,
giving him the third highest totals in both categories in Monks
baseball history.
Leading the way on the mound was senior ace
Sam Tupper (Yarmouth, ME). Tupper posted an
incredible 8-1 record, good for the third highest single-season win
total in program history. Tupper struck out 35 hitters in 55.2
innings pitched to produce a 3.07 ERA.
Senior third baseman Mark Clapp (Blue Hill, ME)
batted .302 with 22 RBI, including 9 doubles and 9 stolen bases.
Classmate Keil Martin (Saco, ME) hit .343 and
drove in 16 from the two slot in the Royal Blue lineup. Senior
Dan Enman (Milan, NH) posted a .391 on-base
percentage, appearing in 28 games. Chris Doughty
(Westbrook, ME) pounded 2 homeruns and drove in 15 runs in his
final season. Joining fellow senior Sam Tupper on the mound was
Westbrook, ME, native Ben Cutter. Cutter posted a
career-best 6-2 record. Cutter struck out 32 batters in his 38.2
innings of work while holding opponents to a .218 batting
average.
Junior catcher Andrew Wood (South Portland, ME)
hit .367 with 23 RBI, and classmate Dustin Spiller
(Gorham, ME) hit .344 with 3 homers and 30 runs batted in. Junior
Brian Schools (Gorham, ME) posted a .357 on-base
percentage and swiped 11 bases for the Monks while playing second
base.
Sophomore Wade Oliver (Owls Head, ME) continued to
develop into one of the most feared leadoff hitters in New England
in 2007. Oliver hit .364 with a homerun and 25 RBI. The Monks
rightfielder was a perfect 13-for-13 in stolen base attempts and
chipped in 4 outfield assists.
The Monks got numerous contributions from the pitching staff in
2007. Tupper (8-1) and Cutter (6-2) provided veteran leadership to
a young and talented group of hurlers. Sophomore Andy
Pooler (Southwest Harbor, ME) anchored the bullpen for
Coach Sanborn; appearing in a team-high 17 games. Pooler went 2-0
with 1 save and posted a 3.09 ERA. Southpaw Cole
Filosa (Milford, MA) pitched in 14 games for the Monks,
going 1-1 with 2 saves and a 3.66 ERA.
A foursome of rookies made a significant impact on the mound in
2007, lead by lefty Andrew Keirstead (Westbrook,
ME). Keirstead went 4-2 on the mound and collected 2 saves along
the way. He pitched in 14 games (6 starts) and put up a 3.46 ERA en
route to being named the teams "Rookie of the Year". Southpaw
Kyle Dorr (Berwick, ME) went 4-1 on the year in 6
starts, including a win in the season opener against Daniel
Webster. Craig Woodbrey (Gorham, ME) went 1-1 on
the season in nine appearances and Mike Burdin
(Gardiner, ME) went 2-2. The highlight for Burdin came on May 5th
against Castleton State College in the NAC tournament. Burdin
allowed just one hit in 7.1 innings of work to earn the win and
advance the Monks to the championship game.
Offensively, Travis Adams (Saco, ME) led the
rookies with a .364 batting average. Adams started 13 games behind
the plate for the Monks. Ben Grant-Roy (Biddeford,
ME) hit .327 with a homerun and 26 RBI. Craig
Persechini (Marion, MA) chipped in a .346 average in 16
games and Ricky Sarmento (Lowell, MA) posted a
.367 on-base percentage.
As a team, the 2007 Monks hit an impressive .327 with 15 homers and
249 RBI. The team stole an amazing 106 bases in 129 attempts. The
2.55 stolen bases per game ranked them 16th nationally. On the
mound, the Royal Blue pitchers posted a 30-12 record with 6 saves.
The staff put up a 4.31 team ERA in 324 innings of work, striking
out 197 batters and holding the opposition to a .257 batting
average.
"I am very excited about the direction in which the program is
going," said Coach Sanborn. "We will miss these six seniors a lot;
they have been a major part of our success both on the field and
off, but I am excited about the young men who are coming in this
fall. We should be very competitive in 2008."
Let the record show: 2007 was yet another banner year for Saint
Joseph's College Baseball.
