STANDISH, Maine – The 2018 Saint Joseph's College baseball season begins Sunday when the Monks open up a 10-game slate in the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational with a doubleheader versus King's College (PA) at 5:00 PM.
STARTS AT THE TOP:
Head Coach Will Sanborn '86 kicks off his 26th season at the helm for the Monks with a 686-364-5 (.653) career record and ranks as the winningest coach in the history of SJC Athletics.
During his 25 years as the Monks' skipper, Sanborn has accumulated a 686-364-5 (.653) record with 19 championships, including 13 conference crowns and five NAIA New England titles, and 22 winning seasons. Saint Joseph's has reached the 25-victory plateau in 18 of Sanborn's 25 years and posted 30 or more wins on 12 occasions.
The Monks have been particularly strong since the start of the 2005 season. Over the last 13 years, Saint Joseph's has posted an incredible 405-167 (.708) overall record, including an otherworldly 152-30 (.835) mark versus conference foes.
Over this 13-year span, St. Joe's has made eight NCAA DIII Tournament appearances with an ECAC Tournament berth in 2005. In the New England Regional, the Monks have been seeded as high as #2 on a pair of occasions and have won 11 NCAA tourney games, including 10 over the past four appearances.
In yet another testament to the program's winning ways, Saint Joseph's has notched at least 30 victories in 10 of the past 13 seasons – a feat achieved by just two New England programs.
WHERE WE LEFT OFF:
Saint Joseph's posted a 31-8 overall record with a 13-1 mark in GNAC play last spring en route to earning the top seed in the conference tournament. The Monks, regionally and nationally ranked virtually all season, suffered a 6-3 quarterfinal loss at the hands of #4 Johnson & Wales University on May 4th and saw their season come to an abrupt end with an elimination game loss at the hands of #3 Lasell College two days later.
DEARLY DEPARTED:
The Monks lost five All-Conference players to graduation, including 2017 GNAC Player of the Year Taylor Black and four-time All-GNAC honoree Max McCoomb - two players who manned the left side of the SJC infield for the better part of the last four seasons.
Designated hitter Jameson Collins and first baseman Brett Barbati, both 2017 First Team All-Conference selections, and Second Team All-GNAC outfielder Dennis Meehan have also been lost to graduation.
In total, the five aforementioned hitters collectively compiled a .377 (209-555) batting average with 149 runs, 42 doubles, 16 home runs, and 160 RBI.
KEY RETURNERS:
The Monks return virtually their entire pitching staff, including 2017 First Team All-GNAC and All-New England senior southpaw Josh Partridge (Deerfield, N.H.), who went 6-2 with four saves and a 1.61 ERA with 48 K's and just 11 walks in 44.2 innings last spring. Seniors Travis Godbout (Portland, Maine), Aaron Hall (Haverhill, Mass.), Chris Gerossie (Chester, N.H.), and Marc Poirier (Lunenburg, Mass.) are also back and will fill a variety of roles in the rotation and/or bullpen.
Despite losing a fair amount of offensive firepower from last year's team - which finished the year as the NCAA DIII leader in on-base percentage (.440) and ranked second nationally in batting average (.350), third in scoring (9.3 runs per game), and eighth in slugging (.506) - the cupboard is far from bare.
Junior first baseman Noah McDaniel (Eliot, Maine) returns after hitting .380 (41-107) with 25 runs, five doubles and 24 RBI during a breakout sophomore campaign, as does junior Joey Murphy (Derry, N.H.), who moves to his natural shortstop position after batting .331 (42-127) with 39 runs, five doubles, and 18 RBI while manning second base last year.
In his first year as a hitter, Gerossie posted a .404 (21-52) average with 26 runs, seven doubles, two home runs and 21 RBI with a stellar .588 OBP while playing excellent defense in center field.
Senior catcher Jake White (Salem, N.H.), a 2017 Second Team All-Conference honoree, hit .304 (21-69) with 15 runs, three doubles and nine RBI with a .424 OBP as a junior. Perhaps the best defensive backstop the Monks have had in recent memory, White threw out 48.3% of would-be base-stealers last spring and figures to boost his offensive output this season.
NEWCOMERS TO WATCH:
Coach Sanborn brought in an impressive recruiting class, which includes a pair of impact hurlers - Zach Begin (Georgetown, Mass.) and Kristian Harris (Salem, N.H.) - to help bolster the Monks' pitching staff. Begin, a hard-throwing righthander, and Harris, a crafty southpaw, both figure to see plenty of innings during their first NCAA season.
Freshman second baseman Luke Johnson (East Hampton, Conn.), an excellent defender and speedy left-handed hitter, and fellow infielder Hunter Richardson (North Monmouth, Maine), a versatile and scrappy player, both figure to see significant time this spring. Freshman outfielder Brendan Barry (Stoneham, Mass.), a slugger with a veteran's approach at the plate, could very well find himself in the middle of the Monks' lineup sooner rather than later.
GAMES TO SEE:
April 12 at Southern Maine: The annual in-state rivalry matchup featuring a pair of longtime head coaches takes place in Gorham this season in a 3:30 PM start. The Huskies topped the Monks 10-4 in Standish last year, but these teams have played even (5-5) against each other since the start of the 2009 campaign.
April 17 vs. Endicott: Perennial Commonwealth Coast Conference favorite Endicott College comes to Standish looking to avenge a pair of losses at the hands of the Monks last season, including an 11-1 SJC triumph in Maine on April 18th. St. Joe's has won five of the last six games in the series against Endicott.
April 22 vs. Johnson & Wales: The Monks seek revenge for a first-round GNAC Tournament loss at the hands of the Wildcats in a pair of conference games that will surely affect the league standings going forward.
April 25 at UMass.-Boston: In perhaps their toughest test of the season, the Monks trek to Boston to face off against 2018 Little East Conference Champion and NCAA DIII World Series participant UMass.-Boston.
April 28 at Suffolk: The Monks and Rams face off in what could be a preview of the GNAC Championship game, which will be played eight days later. Suffolk and St. Joe's have faced off in the conference championship contest eight times in the last 10 seasons.
TOURNEY TIDBIT:
The 2018 GNAC Tournament will be hosted by Saint Joseph's at Larry Mahaney Diamond on Saturday May, 5th and Sunday, May 6th.
2018 SCHEDULE SYNOPSIS:
