Sanborn inducted into Maine Baseball Hall of Fame, wife Lynn enters Wheaton College Hall

STANDISH, ME - Saint Joseph's is always proud of their unique and noteworthy faculty, but when a pair of the College's staff members claim hall of fame honors, this deserves special heed. 

Baseball Head Coach Will Sanborn and his wife, Lynn Brown, Dean of Enrollment Programming at Saint Joseph's, were both deemed as hall of famers earlier this year. Sanborn entered the Maine Baseball Hall of Fame over the summer and Brown was honored as a member of the 1983 Wheaton College field hockey team, which was inducted as part of the Lyons' first-ever hall of fame class this fall.

To accomplish such success is no easy task.  Sanborn '86, in his 22nd year as the SJC skipper, finds motivation not in himself, but in the players he guides year after year. 

"I just want to do the best job possible.  There are lessons to be learned everyday, and I want to see the players succeed and learn how to become successful. Sometimes competition gets a bad rap, but we use it as motivation to beat the other guy and elevate ourselves to become as good as we can."

About to begin his 22nd season at the helm, Sanborn has led the Monks' baseball club since 1993 and has accumulated a 573- 309-5 (.650) record to go along with a whopping 17 championships during his tenure. 

Coach Sanborn relays his induction speech

Lynn Brown (back row, far right) poses for a photo with her teammates

How does a coach attain such success?  It begins with a regimen that Sanborn has used since his first year on the job.  "Character, academics, baseball.  Even from the very beginning of the recruiting process, we stress the importance of character and academics within our team.  Starting with their first trip to campus, we want them to understand what the program is all about and develop both as players and people."

Sanborn stresses the importance of recruiting, calling it perhaps the most integral part of creating a solid baseball team.  "You need them to know what they're getting into and what this program is about," Sanborn says.  "The recruits need to understand where our priorities lay, and understand there is more to this team than just winning baseball games."

As a player, assistant and head coach, Sanborn has taken part in over 680 SJC victories on the diamond. 

Lynn Brown's 1983 Wheaton College field hockey team is the first team to be inducted into the Lyons' athletics hall of fame, and she considers this achievement to be quite an honor.  "I have a lot of great memories about that team, and it's great to be recognized by the college.  There were so many talented athletes, it's an honor to be recognized for the effort."

The 1983 field hockey team holds claim to earning the first-ever NCAA Tournament berth in Wheaton College history. Brown played an important role for the Lyons, who went 13-3-0 that fall and defeated Salem State College, 2-0, in the opening round of the national tournament before falling to eventual National Champion Trenton State College, which is now known as The College of New Jersey.

Brown was a co-captain for the Lyons in 1983, but doesn't give herself or the team all the credit for their success:

"We were a talented group of athletes, but our coach, Debi Field, was just great – she gave us a great sense of team spirit, and this played a large role in our endeavors as a team. Coach Field, who went on to serve as Athletic Director at Colby Sawyer College for 27 years, was a member of the United States National Field Hockey team and did a fantastic job of putting a capable team on the field, contributing to our success.  We had great team spirit, and I think that's really what made us such a great team." 

Now hall of famers, Sanborn and Brown, whom Sanborn calls his top assistant – with all due respect to his coaching staff, both understand the responsibility and leadership they now posses, but neither are letting it go to their head. "We share the same goal, to be competitive and to develop young athletes," Sanborn says. "It's an honor for the both of us to be recognized in this way, but we'll continue to produce competitive teams and set an example."

Asked of his biggest goal as a coach, Sanborn laughs, "Not messing up."  Both he and Brown have set an absolute example of what it takes to be a winner on and off the playing field.  "It's such a joy to see these young athletes succeed," Brown says.  "We just appreciate the opportunity." 

Needless to say, Saint Joseph's College appreciates the effort they have put forth; both as examples of success and models of what it takes to be a true hall of famer.

PHOTO GALLERIES:

Coach Sanborn, Maine Baseball Hall of Fame

Lynn Brown, Wheaton College Hall of Fame

WRITTEN BY JACK HOLLY '14