GORHAM—Midway through USM’s bout with visiting St. Joe’s on Thursday, April 12, Husky Dylan Hapworth (Winslow, Maine) broke a 3-3 deadlock with a two-run homer, handing his boys the last lead-change of the game. The home team tallied one more in the eighth to ultimately top the Monks 6-3.
The win, USM’s seventh in a row, bumped the team to 14-6. St. Joe’s, meanwhile, slipped on the loss to 16-7. Those are two great records, but longtime Huskies head coach Ed Flaherty, however, was more worried about his guys’ efforts than the group in the other dugout.
“I didn’t expect anything leading into game,” he said. “I have only ever cared about how my team has done. I never worry about our opponent. To me, the game is only one of many non-League games we need to win.”
For St. Joe’s head coach Will Sanborn, on the other hand, it’s important not to let an opponent as dangerous as the Huskies out of your sight for too long.
“We always expect a tough test when playing USM,” he said. “They always have strong teams and this year is not different.”
The first inning passed scorelessly, but USM dashed to a 2-0 lead in the second, scoring on a single by Anthony Degifico (South Portland, Maine) and a St. Joe’s outfield error.
St. Joe’s hashed a pair of runs in the third to tie things up. Joey Murphy (Derry, New Hampshire) and Anthony DiPrizio (Rochester, New Hampshire) cranked out doubles for the 2-1 notch, and Will Martin (Arlington, Massachusetts) sac-flied to bring DiPrizio home again to tie the score 2-2.
USM inched ahead again in the third, but St. Joe’s responded in kind, come the fourth. Finally, in the fifth, Hapworth grabbed the momentum for the Huskies. St. Joe’s would never recover.
“Certainly Hapworth’s homerun was the difference,” Flaherty said. “I wanted a lead, getting to the sixth, because our bullpen had been doing so well.”
“In the fifth we just made a couple of mistakes that they took advantage of,” Sanborn said. “That’s baseball – making sure you don’t make mistakes that the other team can take advantage of, and then having an ability to take advantage of the opportunities you are given. We just came out on the short end of that equation today.”
Jared Gagne (Dover, New Hampshire) went 1-5 for St. Joe’s, kicking in one RBI; Murphy likewise finished 1-5, with one run. DiPrizio finished 1-3, with one run and one RBI; Martin 1-3 with one RBI; Noah McDaniel (Eliot, Maine) 2-4; Jacob White (Salem, New Hampshire) 1-3, Luke Johnson (East Hampton, Connecticut) 1-3; Kevin Aylward (East Bridgewater, Massachusetts) 1-1 and Chris Gerossie (Chester, New Hampshire) 1-1 with a run.
Jake Dexter (Oakland, Maine) went 2-4 for USM, contributing two runs and an RBI; Hapworth 1-3 with one run and two RBIs; Devin Warren (Smithfield, Maine) 2-3 with one RBI; Andrew Hillier (Bangor, Maine) 1-3 with one run; Andrew Olszak (Danvers, Massachusetts) 1-4; Jason Komulainen (Gorham, Maine) 2-3 with a double and a run and Degifico 2-3 with an RBI.
St. Joe’s ran a trio of pitchers through their eight innings: starter Travis Godbout (Portland, Maine; L, 3-1), Jonathan Marchia (Chicopee, Massachusetts) and Josh Partridge (Deerfield, New Hampshire).
USM tapped five different guys for stints on the mound: starter Josh Joy (Smithfield, Maine), Colton Lawrence (Farmington, Maine; W, 3-0), Henry Curran (South Portland, Maine), Tanner Laberge (Windham, Maine) and Dexter (Sv, 8).
Asked which of his guys played particularly well, Flaherty nodded again to his pitching staff. “As I said, the bullpen has been performing well.” Asked specifically about Komulainen, who’s had a standout first season, Flaherty offered further praise: “Komulainen’s been doing real well for a frosh. He has a good future.”
Given the chance, Sanborn likewise applauded a couple of his athletes.
“Our shortstop, Joey Murphy, continues to have an excellent year both offensively and defensively. He has been very consistent for us. Jonathan Marchia pitched well, kept us in the game, and is really coming on,” he said.
USM extended their win streak to nine with a pair of victories over Western Connecticut State on Friday April 13. Their luck came to an end on Tuesday April 17, however, when they fell to the University of Massachusetts Boston 4-3 in 11 innings, a road loss. The Huskies are currently 16-7. They hosted Endicott on Wednesday, April 18, and welcomed Babson the following afternoon.
St. Joe’s has picked up three further victories since their defeat at USM: two at home versus Anna Maria and one on the road at Endicott. Now 18-8, the Monks are slated to travel to Lasell on Friday, April 20.
St. Joe’s athletics homepage is at www.gomonks.com. USM’s is at www.southernmainehuskies.com.
Adam Birt can be reached at abirt@keepmecurrent.com. Follow him on Twitter: @CurrentSportsME
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