March 28, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Thomas upsets Husson> Lenihan shuts down Braves

BANGOR – The Thomas Terriers didn’t have their top slugger, Travis Hotham, in the first game of their NAIA Region 10 Independent Baseball Tournament, a 5-0 shutout of Husson of Bangor.

With Shawn Lenihan confusing Husson’s batters, two Braves errors giving Thomas a four-run sixth, and the Terriers collecting 14 hits, it didn’t matter.

Thomas’ decisive rally in the sixth put the game away as Lenihan kept batters out of scoring position the final three innings. The second-ranked Terriers improved to 17-15 while the third-seeded Braves are now 22-18 in the double-elimination tournament at Mansfield Stadium.

Thomas will play the winner of Friday’s St. Joseph’s-Castleton State game at 4 p.m. on Saturday, while Husson faces the loser at 1 p.m.

“Their pitcher did a great job. He doesn’t throw it hard. But we didn’t go deep. We hit into his strength,” said Husson coach John Kolasinksi.

Lenihan kept it simple, using his curveball and changeup. Of the 99 pitches he threw, 32 were strikes, and he fanned just one. He walked none and, with the Terriers defense committing no errors, he scattered six hits.

Meanwhile, Geoff Burnham scored the winning run in the fourth when he singled to left and later scored on Mat Ferreira’s single to right field.

In the sixth, Burnham helped start Thomas’ five-hit, four-run rally with his RBI single that scored Chad Boyd, who had walked and advanced on a throwing error by Husson’s Mike Worcester.

After Scott Sibley singled to deep right, Ferreira took first on third baseman Chris Morris’ misplaced throw that also scored Burnham. Sibley scored on Mike Fergerson’s sacrifice fly, and Ryan Cook’s single to far left drove in Ferreira.

“I just choked up, poked it through,” said Burnham, who carries a .373 average and was batting third for Hotham, who leads Thomas with a .413 clip. “We wanted to give Lenihan a little extra. [Zukowski] was leaving it over the plate.”

The Terriers, who didn’t have an extra base hit in the game, left 10 runners on base.

Burnham led Thomas with three singles, two runs scored, and an RBI, while Ferreira and Doyon each had three hits, and Ferreira scored a run. Sibley and Tom Ouellete collected two singles apiece.

“They scored five runs on 14 hits, that’s fortunate for us [it wasn’t more],” Kolasinksi said. “We’re still capable of winning this tournament.”

Husson senior James Zukowski took the loss, striking out six and walking three before little-used freshman Brock Kimball came in to pitch the last two innings. Kimball retired all six batters he faced.

Terriers 5, Braves 0

Thomas (17-15) Husson (22-18)

Name ab r h bi Name ab r h bi

Simpson, cf 4 0 0 0 King, ss 4 0 2 0

Boyd, ss 4 1 0 0 Foster, lf 4 0 1 0

Burnham, lf 5 2 3 1 Largay, 2b 4 0 1 0

Sibley, 3b 4 1 2 0 Williams, dh 4 0 0 0

Ferreira, c 4 1 3 0 Worcester, c 4 0 0 0

Fergerson, dh 5 0 0 1 Montgomery, rf 3 0 1 0

Cook, 1b 4 0 1 1 Creek, 1b 2 0 0 0

Doyon, rf 4 0 3 0 Morris, 3b 3 0 0 0

Ouellete, 2b 2 0 2 0 Soucie, cf 2 0 0 0

a-LaPrino 1 0 1 0

Totals 36 5 14 3 Totals 31 0 6 0

a-singled for Soucie in the eighth

Thomas 000 104 00 – 5

Husson 000 000 00 – 0

E – Worcester, Morris 2B – King, Foster LOB – Thomas 10; Husson 6 DP – King to Largay to Creek SB – Morris S – Ouellete SF – Simpson

PITCHER IP H R ER BB SO

Thomas

Lenihan (W, 6-3) 9 6 0 0 0 1

Husson

Zukowski (L, 5-4) 7 14 5 4 3 6

Kimball 2 0 0 0 0 0

HBP – Creek TIME – 2:30 ATTENDANCE – 130 (est.)


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