March 29, 2024
COLLEGE BASEBALL

Spencer, Harvey lead Husson into tourney

All it takes is a quick glance at the Husson College baseball statistics to recognize the catalysts.

Bucksport’s Jason Harvey and Brewer’s Justin Spencer have put together memorable senior years and they would love to cap their college baseball careers with a North Atlantic Conference championship.

The second-seeded Eagles, 25-14 overall (8-4 in NAC), open the NAC tourney at St. Joseph’s College’s Ward Field in Standish today at 6 p.m. against third seed Castleton State (21-17, 7-5). St. Joseph’s (30-8-1, 11-1), the top seed and defending champ, meets No. 4 Thomas College of Waterville (15-21, 7-5) at 2.

There will be three games on Saturday starting at 10 a.m. and the championship round will be on Sunday.

Shortstop Harvey is hitting .437 with six homers, 40 runs batted in, 14 doubles, seven triples, and 48 runs scored. Center fielder Spencer is hitting .435 with six homers, 57 RBIs, 14 doubles, four triples, and 44 runs scored.

They were Husson’s only All-NAC first team choices.

“Jason Harvey has been one of the top athletes in Maine the past three or four years,” said Thomas coach Greg King. “He hits the ball gap-to-gap. He’s a tough out. He runs well and he handles anything hit to him.”

“Spencer is another great athlete,” added King. “He can absolutely fly, and I always worry about his bat.”

Husson assistant Billy Kane called them “amazing athletes.”

Harvey also plays basketball at Husson and averaged 11 points, 41/2 rebounds and 31/2 assists this past winter.

He transferred to Maine and was the starting shortstop for his one season there before transferring back to Husson.

Harvey said he never expected to have the career he has had to date.

“My hard work has paid off,” said Harvey who considers this to be his best overall season at Husson.

“I’ve worked on a lot of things on my own like hitting off the tee,” said Harvey, who credited former Maine coach Paul Kostacopoulos with teaching him how to hit a breaking ball.

Spencer has been pleased with his season and said he has benefited from “taking more swings.”

“I’ve made sure, even on my days off, that I’ve taken a few swings to improve my hand-eye coordination,” said Spencer.

Freshman Anthony DeRosa of Bangor (6-1, 3.51 ERA) will start today’s opener against a Castleton State team featuring Tim Zorio (.449-0-16) and Phil Puleo (.371-4-36).

St. Joseph’s is led by NAC Player of the Year, pitcher Charlie Furbush, along with Rookie of the Year Wade Oliver while Thomas has been sparked by Matt Pavlis (.397-0-19), Tim Mercier (.374-1-27), and Jordan Stebbins (.373-1-15) along with pitcher Ryan Rulman (6-2, 2.18).


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