WINTHROP, Mass. – Mitchell claimed the No. 1 seed in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Baseball Championship after going 16-4 in league play (24-12 overall) and will host one of two four-team, double-elimination pods. The University of Saint Joseph (Conn.) earned the No. 2 seed (25-15, 14-6 GNAC), winning a tiebreaker over Saint Joseph's College of Maine (30-10, 14-6 GNAC) after sweeping Mitchell in the final conference doubleheader, while the Monks split with the Mariners.
Sophomore Nic Frink leads the Monks' offense, batting .377 with 55 hits, 10 home runs, 41 RBI, a .630 slugging percentage, and a .430 OBP. Connor Finn (.385 in limited action) and Nick Brindle (.315, 28 hits) are also among the team's top average hitters, while Vinny O'Leary (.306, 33 runs, 23 walks) provides strong on-base production.
Jake Carlisle (.294, 6 HR, 23 RBI), Nick Villano (.291, 4 HR, 25 RBI), and Jared Wilhelm (.257, 6 HR, 23 RBI) add power depth, while Michael Richards has delivered impact in fewer games with five home runs and a .614 slugging percentage. Overall, Saint Joseph's is hitting .286 with 33 home runs and 219 RBI.
Dylan Brander anchors the staff at 6-2 with a 2.79 ERA over a team-high 58.0 innings, while Tyler Nelson is 3-0 with a 3.82 ERA and 35 strikeouts in 30.2 innings. William Dionne provides a key bullpen arm with a 3-1 record, four saves, and 42 strikeouts over 39.2 innings, and Ryan Thurber has added two saves with a 3.00 ERA. As a staff, the Monks own a 4.29 ERA with 248 strikeouts over 306.1 innings.
Dean secured the No. 4 seed (20-14, 11-9 GNAC) over No. 5 Colby-Sawyer (18-19, 11-9 GNAC) via results against top teams, splitting with SJC while the Chargers were swept. Norwich (12-23, 9-11 GNAC) earned the No. 6 seed over Lasell (19-18, 9-11 GNAC) after splitting head-to-head and with Mitchell, while Lasell went 0-2 versus the Mariners. Elms (7-13 GNAC) claimed the final spot over Rivier after a split, using a sweep of USJ as the deciding factor.
Pod play begins Thursday, April 30 at the top four seeds, continues Saturday, May 2, and concludes Sunday, May 3. Pod winners meet in a best-of-three championship series starting Thursday, May 7 (Game 2/if necessary: May 8), with the winner earning the GNAC title and an automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Championship.
2026 GNAC Baseball Tournament Schedule
Pod Play- Day 1 (Thu. April 30) (Hosted by higher seeds)
Pod A
- #1 Mitchell v. #8 Elms, 2:00 PM
- #4 Dean v. #5 Colby-Sawyer, 3:00 PM
Pod B
- #2 University of Saint Joseph (Conn.) v. #7 Lasell, 3:00 PM
- #3 Saint Joseph's (Maine) v. #6 Norwich, 1:30 PM
Pod Play Day 2 – Sat. (May 2) Pod A (Hosted by No. 1 seed Mitchell)
- Game 3A – Game 1A Loser vs. Game 2A Loser, 8:30 AM
- Game 4A – Game 1A Winner vs. Game 2A Winner, 12:00 PM
- Game 5A – Game 3A Winner vs. Game 4A Loser, 3:00 PM
Pod B (Hosted by No. 2 seed University of Saint Joseph (Conn.))
- Game 3B – Game 1B Loser vs. Game 2B Loser, 9:00 AM
- Game 4B – Game 1B Winner vs. Game 2B Winner, 12:00 PM
- Game 5B – Game 3B Winner vs. Game 4B Loser, 3:00 PM
Pod Finals – Sunday, May 3 Pod A (Hosted by No. 1 seed Mitchell)
- Game 6A – Game 4A Winner vs. Game 5A Winner, 11:00 AM
- Game 7A – If necessary, TBD
Pod B (Hosted by No. 2 seed University of Saint Joseph (Conn.))
- Game 6B – Game 4B Winner vs. Game 5B Winner, 12:00 PM
- Game 7B – If necessary, 3:00 PM
Championship Series – Thursday, May 7 and Friday, May 8 (Hosted by highest remaining seed)
- Game 8 – Pod A Winner v. Pod B Winner (Game 1)
- Game 9 - Pod A Winner v. Pod B Winner (Game 2)
- Game 10 – If necessary
