Torrential Rain Washes Out Monks’ Trip

WINTER HAVEN, FL – The Saint Joseph’s College Baseball team had its last two spring trip games cancelled due to heavy rainfall in central Florida late in the week.

The Monks were slated to play nine-inning games against William Paterson on Friday and Aurora on Saturday. Neither game will be re-scheduled.

The wet conditions robbed the Monks of an opportunity to end the lackluster trip on a high note, as the Royal Blue cap the southern swing with a 3-4 record after dropping the would-be last contest to Wentworth on Thursday by an 11-10 score.

All four of the Monks’ losses were by one run, as St. Joe’s was bested by a single run by WPI twice (13-12, 9-8) and also fell to Loras, 3-2.

The SJC offense provided plenty of punch, as the team hit .368 (85-231) and averaged nearly 10 runs per game during the week. Four regulars hit over .430, with Eric LaBatte ’11 (Rochester, NH) leading the team with a .529 (9-17) mark thus far. Chris Campbell ’11 (Rochester, NH) is hitting .481 (13-27) with a team-high 13 runs, Ian Lee ’11 (Hampden, ME) heads north with a .476 (10-21) average and Ben Grant-Roy ’10 (Biddeford, ME) is hitting .435 (10-23) with team-highs in doubles (5), RBI (11), slugging (.739) and OBP (.581).

Freshmen infielders Mike Pratt (Dartmouth, MA) and Nick Saunders (Brooksville, ME) showed the ability to be consistent contributors at the college level in their first week of NCAA play. Pratt hit .333 (7-21) with a home run and eight RBI and Saunders hit .375 (6-16) with three RBI during the week.

The pitching staff showed signs of things to come, with several notching outstanding efforts. Sam Murray ’12 (Walpole, MA) tossed a complete-game gem in a losing effort to Loras on Wednesday, as the sophomore southpaw allowed three earned runs and eight hits with five K’s. Andrew Keirstead ’10 (Westbrook, ME) proved to be a reliable closer and returns to Maine with a save, a victory, and a 0.00 ERA in 6.1 innings of work. First-year hurlers Jimmy Kennedy (York, ME), Adam Stanclift (Chesterfield, NH), Sean Drake (Lebanon, NH) and Chad Rafferty (Keene, NH) all dominated at times, and returners Pat Moran ’10 (Winterport, ME), Kyle Dorr ’10 (Berwick, ME) Kevin Chamberlain ’11 (Scarborough, ME) and Mason Roberge ’11 (Franklin, NH) also pitched well for the Monks.

St. Joe’s will continue the 2010 campaign when the Royal Blue makes a trip to New Jersey City University for a twinbill against the Gothic Knights on Saturday, March 20^th. The Monks will also play two against St. Joseph’s (NY) on Sunday, March 21^st before heading back to New England.