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WESTERN NEW ENGLAND COLLEGE AIMS FOR ANOTHER POST-SEASON TOURNAMENT IN 2004

Box Score

Saturday, March 20, 2004
Bowdoin 8, WNEC 7

Friday, March 19, 2004
WNEC 8, Roger Williams 4

Thursday, March 18, 2004
WNEC 16, Westminster (Pa.) 6

Wednesday, March 17, 2004
Roger Williams 1, WNEC 0

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. â€" With several key returning players, Western New England College's baseball team is poised to make another run at a post-season tournament in 2004.

Last year WNEC posted a 22-18 record for its ninth consecutive winning season that culminated in a second straight runner-up finish at the ECAC Division III New England Championship. The Golden Bears also placed second in the GNAC Tournament; this was the third in four years the team has advanced to the conference title game.

Fifth-year coach Matt LaBranche is pleased with the progress of the team and feels his team will make a strong run for the GNAC title and return trip to the NCAA Division III Tournament in 2004. A former standout at Springfield College, LaBranche has a 91-62 record for a 59.5 winning percentage.

"With our initial recruiting classes now achieving upperclassmen status, we feel the program has gained the experience necessary to compete with the elite squads in our region," LaBranche says. "We have a team this year that has a chance to be special. After some heartbreaking runner-up finishes in post-season play over the last two years we are extremely motivated to come out on top."

Junior All-GNAC performers, centerfielder Jeff Maurutis (Milford, CT) and catcher Matt Hackney (Bristol, CT) will lead the Golden Bears this spring.

Maurutis led the squad in hitting (.385), home runs (4), and stolen bases (18) in gaining a spot on the All-New England Division III Third Team.

Hackney hit .333 and was first in RBI (39). A career .339 hitter, Hackney played for the Chatham A's in the prestigious Cape Cod League last summer, the first WNEC player to make such an appearance.

On the mound, seniors Joe Golec (Florence, MA) (2.49 career ERA) and David Gwozdz (Ludlow, MA) (18 career wins) were All-Region performers in 2002. Golec, however, had surgery on his right shoulder in February and is out indefinitely.

Sophomore Jason Connelly (Scituate, MA) tied Golec and Gwozdz for the team lead in wins (5) in 2003. Connelly, the team's starting second baseman, was the 2003 GNAC Rookie-of-the-Year and an All-GNAC Second Team selection.

Also returning are junior first baseman Mike Kramer (Greenlawn, NY) who hit .329 last season, sophomore infielder Rob Crouse (Adams, MA), .292, junior outfielder/pitcher Frank Candella (Marcy, NY), .284, junior shortstop Justin McGee (Wilbraham, MA), .282, and senior first baseman Jason Engelhart (Whitesboro, NY), .258.

Engelhart, Golec, Hackney, and Maurutis will serve as team captains this season.

Third basemen Tim Horgan (Westfield, MA) and Josh Jacobs (Essex Junction, VT) head the list of 11 freshmen on the roster.

Western New England College will open its 36th season at 3:30 p.m. Saturday (March 13) against Kings College (Pa.) in Homestead, Florida.

The Golden Bears will play eight games at the Homestead Challenge before returning north for their home opener (weather permitting) at the new George E. Trelease Memorial Baseball Park on Wednesday, March 24 against Babson College.

Tuesday, March 16, 2004
WNEC 8, Fitchburg State 4

Monday, March 15, 2004
WNEC 6, Dickinson State (N.D.) 5

Sunday, March 14, 2004
Adrian (Mich.) 5, WNEC 4

Saturday, March 13, 2004
WNEC 4, Adrian (Mich.) 2

 

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