Brockton native Patrick Boen was in his third season as head coach of the Skyhawks back in 2000 when they won the Northeast-10 Conference tourney and reached the NCAA regional title game.

That was followed by some near-misses during the decade when Stonehill was left on the outside looking in at the NCAAs.

Last Sunday, the wait ended for the Skyhawks when they finished a 4-0 run through the NE-10 tourney and earned the automatic qualifier for the NCAAs.

“It's been great,'' said Boen, who was a two-sport athlete at Stonehill. “Just the number of calls and emails and text messages from the alumni I've gotten this week is incredible. I'd say 75 percent of the guys who have played in the last 10 years, I've heard from. It's unbelievable.''

The fourth-seeded Skyhawks return to the NCAAs tonight when they face third-seeded New Haven (31-13) at 7 p.m. at Yale Field in the six-team, double-elimination East Regional hosted by Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven.

The Skyhawks captured their third NE-10 Championship last weekend with a 4-0 clip. (PHOTO BY Richard Orr).

Stonehill (29-16) arrives at the tourney with an 11-game winning streak that began after a 5-1 loss at Franklin Pierce on April 22.

“I can't even explain the feeling,'' said Skyhawks' junior pitcher Alex McCormick, a Cardinal Spellman High graduate who is 6-3 with a 1.36 ERA. “It was unbelievable at the end of that (conference title) game, just to see everyone's hard work pay off. We all feel like we definitely have a shot at the regionals. It's just been an unreal experience.''

The Skyhawks recovered from a 2-5 start in Florida in March and have gone 27-11 since returning home. They have done it with pitching and defense being the primary catalysts.

“I really thought we had the chance to be a good team because we have the qualities that make a good baseball team _ pitching, defense and leadership,'' said Boen, whose team lost to Saint Rose in the 2000 regional title round. “We have a great bunch of seniors.

“We've gotten a lot of confidence (during the winning streak). There's been some games, like Merrimack, when we were down, 2-0, in the eighth inning and you still felt the guys knew they had an opportunity to win.

“It's up to our pitchers to just give us a chance, throw strikes and let our defense make plays. If we have an advantage over other teams it's our defense. It's been great all year, and we've got pitchers who throw strikes.''

Starters McCormick (who has walked only six in 73 innings), Michael White (5-2, 2.55), Eric Haughn of Pembroke (3-2, 2.89) and Matt Olson (2-2, 3.32) have low ERAs. Bryan Galligan of Brockton is 3-1 in seven starts and relievers Michael Von Stein (3-1, 1.45, five saves) and Brendan Shepard (2-2, 1.65, four saves) have come through.

NE-10 tourney most valuable player Angelo Bruno has 10 homers and 41 RBI to go with a .298 average, and Mitch Davis is batting a team-best .313 with 14 doubles.

Stonehill found a groove after losing five of its first seven games and is now peaking at the right time of the season.

“We have an older team and that really helps,'' said McCormick. “A lot of our core players are juniors and seniors and it helps having that experience. At the beginning of the season, we were struggling, but no one really panicked. We all knew we were going to get it together. We were just trying to get back to doing the little things.''

The Skyhawks have defeated New Haven three times this season, all coming this month, including in the opening round of the NE-10 tourney.

“The three teams seeded ahead of us, we've proven we can play with them,'' said Boen, “which is huge for our confidence because in years past, I think guys have been nervous when they got on the field asking, 'How are we going to beat those guys?'

“At this point, anybody can win. It's six great teams, but I really do like our chances because of the upperclassmen we have.”

“They've been in big games. They just won the NE-10 and they have confidence going.''