Thomas College has a young baseball team, but one thing the Terriers haven’t practiced much is relaxing in the dugout during a blowout win. Thomas is 10-2 in the North Atlantic Conference, but six of those victories are by one run.

Coach Greg King says that’s part of learning how to close teams out and not be satisfied with one big inning.

“We’re doing a lot of good things, but we’re also doing a lot of things that let teams hang with us,” King said.

King has used seniors Cody Vigue and Thomas Cameron in the closer’s role. They’re doing well enough that the Terriers have five saves this spring. As a comparison, the team had one save last year, when Thomas won 25 games.

Entering Tuesday’s doubleheader sweep of the University of Maine at Farmington, Vigue was hitting .462 and fellow senior Jeffrey Richardson was at .371. Freshmen Dillon Emerson and Derek Kane were both over .300.

The next five days are pivotal for the Terriers. They have today off, then face Husson (8-4 in the NAC) in a doubleheader on Thursday before taking on Castleton (12-2) in doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday. That’s after playing doubleheaders Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday.

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“We’re pitching-thin right now,” King said.

But the Terriers seem to be able to find a way. Freshman C.J. Pendleton, who didn’t pitch much in high school, threw two hitless innings Sunday, then came back Monday and went four innings of relief, allowing only two hits and an unearned run. Freshman Isiah Fleming, a Lawrence High School graduate, had an impressive outing Tuesday against UMF.

“We’ve had guys who have come in in tight situations,” King said. “They’ve done such a good job in middle relief.”

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Colby women’s lacrosse has another huge home game when the Mules host Middlebury at 11 a.m., Saturday. Colby is 9-1 and ranked sixth in the country in Division III, while Middlebury is 10-1 and third in the nation. Both teams lost to No. 1 Trinity, the defending national champion.

Ellen Halle (34 goals, 19 assists) leads the way for Middlebury, which is averaging 14.6 goals per game, and has six different players with at least 15 goals. If that doesn’t convince you of their firepower, bear in mind the Panthers erased a 9-5 deficit to Trinity with 18 minutes left. Trinity previously held Colby to four goals in Waterville.

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Colby has had 21 different players score a goal this spring. The Mules are coming off an 11-9 overtime victory over Williams.

• • •

If you’re a new-age sabermetrics fan, you probably love Cindy Schultz.

Schultz, a Valley High School graduate who plays softball at Maine Maritime Academy, doesn’t have overly impressive numbers on the surface. She’s hitting .259, with 15 hits in 23 games.

But if you look at Schultz’ whole stat line, you get the picture of a very valuable player. Schultz leads the Mariners with 24 runs scored. She’s been hit by four pitches and has walked 11 times, giving her an on-base percentage of .411. She’s 3 for 3 in stolen bases, and leads MMA with six sacrifice bunts.
The Mariners are 7-6 in the NAC.

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The track and field career of Maranacook graduate Max HoddWells is filled with promising performances, dating to his high school days when he won a Class B state title in the 300-meter hurdles and broke school records in the long jump and triple jump.

It’s also been filled with injuries that have dealt serious setbacks to his training and progress. Now a senior at the University of New Hampshire, HoddWells’ college career has followed the same path.
One year it was hernia surgery, another heel, groin and knee injuries. He’s suffered hamstring pulls throughout his career.

“I’ve had just about everything you can name,” he said.

This spring HoddWells has been injury free for the past couple of months and it’s translated into an outstanding performance in his three specialty events over the weekend. Competing at home against Maine, Bowdoin, Colby-Sawyer, Fitchburg State and Babson, HoddWells won the long jump and triple jump and took second in the 110 hurdles. In doing so, he set personal records in all three events.

HoddWells will graduate next month and has an internship lined up in California in cardiac and pulmonary rehab.

Gary Hawkins contributed to this report.

Matt DiFilippo — 861-9243
mdifilippo@centralmaine.com


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