Dartmouth's Mike Pratt almost got through four years of college baseball without suffering an injury.

"I didn't get hurt until my final at bat. I singled (in the NCAA Division III Tournament) and when I got to first base, I felt my hamstring unravel a little bit," said Pratt, who recently wrapped up a stellar career at Saint Joseph's College of Maine. "That proved to be the end of my baseball days, because we lost the game to end our season and I hung up my cleats after that."

Pratt, who started out as a third baseman at Bishop Stang High School, switched to first base for his sophomore season and found a home for the next six years.

"I loved playing first base and I worked really hard on my defense," Pratt said. "I made four errors in one game my freshman year in college and that got my attention. I knew I was going to have to work harder in the field to be able to play at that level."

A good hitter with power to all fields, Pratt put in a lot of extra work on his fielding and it paid off. He became the first baseman he knew he could be and made only four errors in his final season, finishing with a .990 fielding percentage.

At the plate, Pratt hit .353 with a team-high six home runs and 49 runs batted in for the Monks (31-14), who won the Great Northeast Athletic Conference championship and advanced to the NCAA Division III Tournament for the eighth time in the last nine years.

A three-time all-conference pick, Pratt capped his career by being named to the American Baseball Coaches/Rawlings NCAA Division III New England All-Region team for the third time.

"I'm proud to have been part of such a great program and Saint Joseph's was a perfect fit for me athletically and academically," said Pratt, who picked the Monks over the University of Southern Maine. "I made a lot of lifelong friendships and everybody connected with the baseball team is like family to me."

Saint Joseph coach Will Sanborn, who started recruiting Pratt after seeing him play in the Bay State Games, said Pratt was a fixture in the meat of the batting order for the Monks.

"Mike was an excellent four-year, middle-of-the-order hitter for us. He hit the ball hard, he delivered a lot of clutch hits, and he knocked in runs," said Sanborn, who has a career record of 573-309-5 in his 21 years at the school. "He was the kind of kid that every coach likes to have on his team in terms of character, coming from a good family, and working hard on the field and in the classroom."

Nate Charette, who coached Pratt in his final season at Bishop Stang, and is now managing the Brockton Dirt Dogs in the Cranberry Baseball League, said Pratt had all the tools to become a good college player.

"I always thought he could play at the next level, because he was a strong kid with some pop in his bat and he had a lot of potential," Charette said. "I still remember a home run he hit onto Route 6 playing at Stang in a game against Cardinal Spellman. The ball went out above the left side of the football bleachers and that's a long way from home plate."

Pratt, who finished as the all-time career leader in games played (176) at St. Joseph's, said his four years flew by at the small school in rural Maine.

"I got a chance to play a lot of baseball and that's something I'll never forget. The only regret I have is that it all went by too quickly," Pratt said. "Coach Sanborn has a lot of faith in his players and he's very supportive. He lets his players be themselves. He lets you know what you have to do and lets you do it. Everybody has a lot of respect for him and his success speaks for itself."

Pratt got a chance to play in Hawaii after his sophomore season with the Monks and he spent the summer after his junior year playing for the Orchard Beach (Maine) Raging Tide in the Prospects League.

Now, he's putting his marketing degree to use in the family business — a chain of Subway sandwich shops that his parents own in New Bedford, Dartmouth, and Fairhaven.

"Baseball was really good to me and I'd be lying if I said I didn't have a dream of making it to the major leagues, but that's a whole other world and I knew that this year would be my last," Pratt said. "I'm going to miss baseball, but I'm working with my parents and helping them out. A lot of good things happened the last four years and I'm excited to see what the future holds for me."

Saint Joseph's College is Maine's only Catholic liberal arts college, providing a supportive, personalized and career-focused education for more than 100 years. From its 350-acre campus on the shores of Sebago Lake, the College offers more than 40 undergraduate programs to a population of approximately 1,000 students. Saint Joseph's College Online provides certificates, undergraduate and advanced degrees for working adults through an online learning program. For more, visit www.sjcme.edu.