It has been a memorable season for Husson University leadoff hitter Camryn King from Corinna.
Entering Thursday’s four-team, double-elimination NCAA Division III Tournament Regional at the Robert and Frances O’Keefe Softball Field in Bangor, the former Nokomis High of Newport standout has already set the school record for runs scored with 52 and in stolen bases with 49.
The junior was among the top 10 in the country in stolen bases for players at the 393 Division III schools and among the top 20 in runs scored.
Husson is looking for its first regional championship, and this is the third time the Eagles have hosted a regional.
Eight-time North Atlantic Conference tournament champion Husson, 36-4, will face Endicott College, 26-13 and Conference of New England champions, to open the tourney at 11 a.m. Thursday. That will be followed by a game between Waterville’s Colby College, 26-11, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 33-9, at 1:30 p.m.
Colby College was a NESCAC semifinalist, and MIT lost in the finals of the NEWMAC Tournament.
On Friday, Thursday’s winners will play at 11 a.m. Thursday’s losers will play at 1:30 p.m., and the teams with one loss will play at 4 p.m. in an elimination game. The championship round will begin with an 11 a.m. game on Saturday followed by the if-necessary game.
The games will be moved to UMaine’s Pierre and Catherine Labat Softball Complex in Orono in case of rain.
Husson is making its eighth straight appearance in an NCAA Division III regional; MIT has now made seven in a row; Endicott won its first CBE title since 2023; and Colby is making its first-ever appearance in a regional tournament.
Husson third-year head coach Rick Roberts called King “our engine.”
“When she goes, we go. When she gets on base, good things happen,” said Roberts.
He said she is “very quick” and is also a smart, aggressive baserunner with good instincts on the basepaths.
King, who has been caught stealing just three times, is Husson’s leading hitter at .445. She also leads the team in hits with 53, doubles with 13, triples (5), total bases (88), walks (23) and on-base percentage (.547).
She is second in runs-batted in with 36 and tied for second in homers with four.
She has had 13 multiple-hit games, has scored at least two runs in 18 games and is currently riding a seven-game hitting streak in which she has gone 13-for-23 (.565) and scored 12 runs.
In addition to her offensive prowess, Roberts called King a “rock star” as a center fielder.
“She has made some unbelievable catches. We’re lucky to have her,” said Roberts.
Husson last hosted a regional in 2024, reaching the championship round where it was beaten 4-0 by Williams College of Massachusetts.
It hosted its first one in 2021 and again went 2-2 and reached the final where it was nipped by another Massachusetts school, Tufts University, 1-0.
“We’ve never won a regional and we’re looking to do that. But there are tough teams in the regionals. You have to bring your A game. You have to play well,” said Roberts, who noted that you want to avoid getting into the losers bracket early because “with the teams we have here and the pitching, it becomes tough [to win it].”
To win it, he said they are going to have to “score runs. We don’t want it to come down to pitcher’s duels.”
In comparing this Husson team to the two previous regional host teams, the former Husson assistant said “this team is more versatile. We’ve got power. We’ve hit 28 home runs. We have a lot of extra-base hits (117) and a lot of stolen bases (97). And we’re really good, defensively.”
Husson’s other offensive catalysts have been senior shortstop Lydia Rice from Winthrop (.429-8 homers-30 RBIs), freshman second baseman Sophia Lynch from Ellsworth (.382-4-17) and senior catcher Morgan Tainter (.380-3-47).
Junior pitcher Ana Lang from Searsport has set a Husson single-season record with 259 strikeouts and 23 wins this season. She is 23-3 with an 0.70 earned run average over 150 ⅔ innings and is among the top five in the country in strikeouts, strikeouts per seven innings, wins and ERA.
She was the NAC Tournament Most Valuable Player.
Lang was chosen to the all-regional team as a freshman in 2024.
Junior Sierra Yates is 6-1 with a 1.23 ERA.
Endicott features CNE tournament MVP Kylyn McLaren (.417-7-39), a junior center fielder; junior second baseman Abby McClaflin (.402-3-23), sophomore third baseman Catherine Seay (.345-1-17) and freshman designated player Maddie Beeley (.343-1-21).
Senior lefty Analise Grady (10-5, 1.80, 10 saves) and junior righty Kristen Beebe (8-3, 2.79) have been the Gulls’ top two pitchers.
Colby, coached by former Husson head coach and University of Maine slugger Terren Allen from Bucksport, has been led by senior center fielder Carissa Cassidy (.493-1-21, 37 runs, 8 triples, 24 stolen bases), junior DP Juliana Kiley (.384-2-39), sophomore 3B Avery Lyman (.337-0-11) and senior SS Victoria Ramirez (.336-1-23). The Mules’ pitching staff has been headlined by sophomore Sophia Meade (11-3, 1.67, 4 saves), freshman Sharlotte Stazinski (9-5, 2.08) and senior KC DeSarno (5-1, 3.11).
Youthful MIT has four .400 hitters in freshman RF Holland Poe (.417-3-39), sophomore LF Layla Thiessen (.416-0-15, 27 stolen bases), sophomore CF Delaney Benevides (.401-0-11, 23 stolen bases) and freshman DP Lauren Sundquist (.400-2-30).
The pitching staff consists of junior Sharona Huang (16-5, 2.82), freshman Emily Watson (10-1, 3.88) and sophomore Sarah Blackett (7-2, 3.85).
