STANDISH, ME - Pat Moran '10 (Winterport, ME) and Todd Keneborus '11 (Hollis Center, ME/Cheverus) hit back to back home runs in the second inning and Mike Burdin '10 (Gardiner, ME) was 3-4 for the Monks (15-8, 7-1 GNAC) in a 9-6 win over Daniel Webster College (2-16) on Thursday evening. Chris Nanof '10 (Clinton, MA) fanned five in three innings of relief to earn the victory and Moran recorded his first save of the year.
Zach Cantor '11 (Windham, ME) went 3-5 with two doubles, a run scored and three driven in and Nick Michaud '10 (Windsor Locks, CT) was 3-5 with an RBI in the losing effort for the Eagles. Rob Leary '10 (Litchfield, NH), making his first appearance of the season on the hill, allowed nine hits, six earned runs and four walks with one strikeout over six innings and took the loss.
The visitors, skippered by former SJC standout J.P. Pyne '01 , who also served as a Monks' assistant in 2007, got on the board first with a run in the top of the second inning. Charles Manning '10 (Riverside, RI) opened the frame with a double off St. Joe's starter Kevin Chamberlain '11 (Scarborough, ME) and and advanced to third on a Martin groundout to Dan Achorn '12 (Bow, NH) at short. On a heads-up play, the junior first baseman scored when Chamberlain failed to cover the plate after Tyler Calkin '11 (Hollis, NH) grounded out to Saint Joseph's catcher Ian Lee '11 (Hampden, ME), lifting the Eagles to an early 1-0 advantage.
The Monks' bats came to life in the bottom of the second. First baseman Ben Grant-Roy '10 (Biddeford, ME) walked and Eric LaBatte '11 (Rochester, NH) followed with a double, his sixth of the year, to right. With runners on second and third, Moran stepped up to the plate and lifted a Leary offering deep over the left field fence to give his team a 3-1 lead. Next up was Keneborus , who turned around a 1-0 pitch for his first tater of the year.
The Royal Blue tacked on single runs in the third and fourth innings to secure a 6-1 lead. LaBatte laced a triple to right-center to plate Grant-Roy , who reached on an error by DWC shortstop Tyler Calkin , in the third. Keneborus led off the fourth frame with a base knock and later scored on a Wade Oliver '09 (Owls Head, ME) single through the left side to put the Monks up 6-1.
The comfortable lead quickly evaporated for the hosts, as Daniel Webster fought back into the game with four runs off five hits in the top of the fifth. Peter Plansky '12 (Litchfield, NH) opened the frame with a line drive over Oliver's head in center for a three-bagger and scrambled home when Joe Tamulonis '10 (Woodstock, NH) singled to right. After a Chris McKenzie '11 (Burlington, MA) single, Cantor doubled to drive home two and scored when Michaud singled to left off Nanof, cutting the SJC lead to 6-5.
After striking out the first two batters in the top of the sixth, Nanof found himself surrounded by Eagles runners after a walk and two singles. The junior reliever worked his way out of the bases-loaded jam by fanning Cantor .
In the bottom of the sixth, St. Joe's added some breathing room with two runs off two singles and a misplayed ball by DWC right fielder Nick Michaud . After a two-out single from Burdin , Oliver hit a sinking line drive to right. The ball bounced past the junior outfielder, who was attempting to grab it on one hop, and rolled all the way to the fence, allowing both Burdin and Oliver to cross the plate.
The teams traded runs in the eighth frame to cap the game scoring. With southpaw Chris Dion '11 (Lawrence, MA) now on the mound for the Monks, Cantor plated the final DWC run with a single that sent Plansky , who reached via a one-out single, to make the score 8-6. Moran replaced Dion with runners on first and second and struck out Kory Kiro '12 (Goffstown, NH) to neutralize the threat.
The Monks got the run back in the bottom of the inning when Achorn , who singled off Eagles reliever Tyler Calkin, was driven home by a Burdin double.
Oliver knocked in three runs and was 2-4,
LaBatte doubled, tripled and produced a run and an
RBI and Keneborus scored three times and was 2-3
on the day. Defensively, the Monks infield turned two double plays,
including a key 3-6-1 twin killing in the top of the ninth. Left
fielder Chris Campbell '11 (Rochester, NH) scaled
the wall to make a spectacular grab on a Martin deep fly in the
fourth inning.
Ian Lee's 13-game hitting streak came to an end in
the triumph. The sophomore catcher, who went 0-3 with a pair of
walks against the Eagles, hit .542 (26-48) during the stretch,
which began with a single against New Jersey City College on March
21st.
For the Eagles, McKenzie was 2-4 with a run, Plansky went 2-3 with two runs and Tamulonis turned in a 2-3 effort with a run and an RBI.
Saint Joseph's will host Maine-Farmington in a 2:00 PM non-conference twin bill on Friday, while Daniel Webster will travel to New London, CT on Saturday to take Mitchell College in an NECC doubleheader starting at 12:00 PM.