UNION LEADER: Granite State players fuel success for Saint Joseph's of Maine

UNION LEADER: Granite State players fuel success for Saint Joseph's of Maine

CLICK HERE to read original article - written by Union Leader Staff Writer Roger Brown

THE Saint Joseph's College of Maine baseball team is off to a 11-2 start this season, and the Monks have been getting significant contributions from players with ties to New Hampshire.

Thirteen players on the Saint Joseph's roster are either New Hampshire residents or played high school baseball in New Hampshire. Saint Joseph's coach Will Sanborn said it's not uncommon for his team to have six players from New Hampshire in its starting lineup, and that doesn't include closer Josh Partridge, a Deerfield resident who played at Concord High School.

"We hit New Hampshire really hard," Sanborn said. "It's fertile recruiting territory for us. New Hampshire has great high school baseball."

In a recent game the Monks, a Division III program, used a starting lineup that included catcher Jacob White (Salem), designated hitter Jameson Collins (Sandown/Timberlane), second baseman Joey Murphy (Derry/Pinkerton), third baseman Taylor Black (Merrimack), outfielder Jared Gagne (Dover) and outfielder Chris Gerossie (Chester/Pinkerton).

Collins was named to the D3Baseball.com Team of the Week on Tuesday after he hit .615 (8 for 13) with a 1.154 slugging percentage and drove in 10 runs in four games last week. In addition, Jennings was named the GNAC Pitcher of the Week and Rochester's Ben Gravel was selected as the GNAC Rookie of the Week.

"One guy who's really come on is Jake White from Salem," Sanborn said. "He's a real strong receiver and he's really come on with the bat. He's hitting so well you really can't take him out of the lineup."

Gagne (.500), Black (.490), Collins (.404), Gerossie (.375) and Murphy (.356) are all hitting better than .350 entering today's scheduled doubleheader against Norwich. Gerossie is also being used as a pitcher, and is 1-0 with a 3.86 ERA.

Partridge is 2-0 with a team-best 1.76 ERA and one save.

Jonathan Panaro (Atkinson), Anthony DiPrizio (Rochester/Spaulding), Greg Emanuelson (Hudson/Alvirne), Grayson Jennings (Bedford) and Timothy Verrill (Dover) are the other players on the Saint Joseph's roster with ties to the Granite State.

Saint Joseph's, which is located in Standish, hasn't had a losing season since 2004.

"In the last three or four years we've really hit the jackpot over there (New Hampshire)," Sanborn said. "We try to go where there's good baseball players, ad there's a lot of good players in New Hampshire."

 

 

#GOMONKS 

 

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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 474-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.