2007 BASEBALL OUTLOOK

The start of spring is always an exciting time for any baseball program. With every year brings optimism and new challenges to embrace. For many successful programs, the building blocks of successful seasons have been put in place long before the season’s first pitch.

It is during the fall and winter when the pieces of the puzzle are arranged, and players emerge as leaders for the upcoming campaign.

For head Coach Dick Meader, who enters his 14^th season at the helm of the Beaver baseball program, some of those questions have already been answered with 14 returnees from a team that has improved the past two seasons.  Meader and the coaching staff will rely on the veterans to emerge and take ownership of the squad.

Players such as Pete McLaughlin, Aaron Wolfe and Scott Hastings developed those qualities during the fall and winter, and their work ethic and drive have sharpened the Beaver focus on qualifying for the North Atlantic Conference Tournament (NAC).

“They have a very good idea of what it takes to be successful,” Meader said. “It is a great sign for your team when your leaders are your hardest workers. They expect everyone to follow them and to be on the same page, and if they are not, they want to raise the level of everyone else’s work.

“The way they have answered the challenge has been very encouraging.”

The Beavers, who featured 17 freshmen or sophomores a year ago, return five starting position players, including Corey Provencer who was an All-Conference player last year. The Beavers lost 5 games in conference play by only one run, and 8 games by 4 four or less.

The Beavers’ leadership will be tested early, as UMF plays it first 10 games on the season, on the road.

“I think the biggest key for us will be how we stay together during the first half of the year,” Meader said. “You always want your team to play well and win, but baseball is a game full of ups and downs.  Some of our best teams here have gotten off to slow starts and have bounced back. If we get through the first few weeks of our schedule, this team will be ready to do well in conference.

”This year team has only four seniors but all are four year players and have contributed during their time at UMF. The goals for our program never change.  We want to get better everyday, be playing our best baseball in late April early May, get into our conference tournament and go to the NCAA tournament.”

PITCHING:

Any time you talk about good teams, you start with pitching and the 2006 Beaver pitching staff improved as the season went along last year. Youth had a lot to do with the early-season struggles early in the season last year but after a few conference games the pitchers did a good job of keeping the team in games.  The Beavers return some youthful but talented pitchers this season from a staff that owned the fourth-best ERA in the NAC, and allowed the fewest hits during the season.

The rotation will be very similar as it was at the end of last season sophomore LHP Craig Pendleton (Saco, Me) finished the season winning his last three starts and ended the year 3-3 with a  4.61 ERA in a team best 41 innings, and 31 strikeouts. Sophomore RHP Pat Howell (Bristol, Me) also will look to be back into the rotation after a 1-4 record season that does not reflect some impressive outings. Dan Hemdal a sophomore RHP (Nashua, NH) did it all for the Beavers last season winning two games with a save while setting the single-season record for appearances with 14.  He also he held opposing batters to a .229 batting average on the season and earned NAC Rookie of the Week honors to highlight his first season of collegiate competition.

“Dan really did a great job for us last season coming out of the bullpen and starting games, he had a great summer and fall and we look forward to see him continue to get better,” said Meader.

The lone junior on the staff LHP Kyle Feltis (Bristol, Me) is another two sport athlete (golf), lead the Beavers last season with a 1.98 ERA.  He appeared in 12 ball games out of the bullpen and can also start.  Senior RHP Scott Hastings (Thomaston Me) looks to bring experience and leadership to a young pitching staff. The Beavers also welcome some three new pitchers to go with an experience group of pitchers this year.  RHP freshmen Brian Morrison (Saco, Me) comes from a great baseball program and pitched in a lot of big games while in high school.  William Ridge (Cherverus, Me), another RHP pitcher, will make an impact on the staff this season. RHP pitchers Josh Greenlaw (N.Berwick, Me) and Soph RHP Greg Melanson (Littletown, NH) will both add depth the Beavers bullpen.

 CACTHERS:

Any good pitching staff must have a good catcher to call the game the Beavers return sophomore catcher Tyler Hanson (Sanford, Me) to be the battering ram again this season. “Tyler does the little things that helps a team win ball game, and last season Tyler establish himself as one of the top defensive catchers in the league,” said Meader. Hanson threw out 12 would be base stealers last year and only had 2 errors all season (both in the 1^st game of the season). He also was 4^th on the team in batting average and was tied for 2^nd in extra base hits.  He continued his improvement over the summer and in the fall. 
 

INFIELD:

The Beavers will look to use senior leadership at first base as Pete McLaughlin (Fairfield ,Me) is a four-year starter and led the team in hitting last season at .317. “Peter has worked really had this off-season to get back to full strength we are excited to have him back and ready to play. The other veteran player coming back in the field is junior Dan Stefanlio (Sanford, Me) a two-year letterwinner, led the team with .989 fielding percentage while at first base, his continued improvement over the summer and fall will help the team.

MIDDLE INFIELD:

Two transfers look to make up the double play combination this year for the Beavers. This is an area where any team needs to be strong in it will be interesting to see all year how well our young players are able to make plays in a very tough position.  Freshmen transfer  Matt Judkins (Thomaston, Me) looks to get the nod at shortstop, spent last season at Flagler College in Florida but was hurt during the year and decided to come back to Maine to play in college.

“He has improved a lot since we recruited him out of high school; anytime you play baseball in Florida for a year you are going to get better”. Meader said.

His double play partner at 2^nd base is another transfer freshmen from in-state rival St. Joseph’s College Kyle Shea (Bar Harbor, Me).

“We really like Kyle and how he has come in and worked hard in our preseason,” said Meader.  “He is a player with a really high upside, he has great hands and very good foot work once he gets into our strength and conditioning program it will only improve his game.”

Sophomore Andrew Bellmore (Monmouth, Me) make the switch back to the infield and is looking to contribute.   Sophomore Greg Melanson looks to rebound from a tough freshmen year and earn the starting nod at third base. Freshmen Steve Hutchinson (Beverly, Ma) will add depth in the infield.

OUTFIELD:

The one area in which the Beavers have experience is in the outfield with one of the better defensive trios in the NAC.  Two-time All-Conference performer Corey Provencer (Rumford, Me), who led the Beavers in at-bats, runs, hits, doubles, and stolen bases last season, will anchor the outfield.

“Corey brings so much to our team and program he is a guy that goes out and plays hard everyday no matter who we play, we look forward for him to improve on last season,” said Meader.  

Over in left field is three-year starter senior Aaron Wolfe (Farmington, Me) who hit .309 and had a team best 24 walks last season, good for second in the NAC.

“Aaron is a veteran who has played in some big conference games we look for him to finish his career on a strong note,” said Meader.

In centerfield the Beavers will welcome a very talented newcomer who will contribute right away in Phines Peake (Penobscot, Me). Peake comes from George Stevens Academy where he won two state championships and won three Eastern Maine titles, he was a four year starter and a two time All-Conference Selection. Adding some depth to the outfield this season will be freshmen Mike Commons (Camden, Me) an all conference player during high school.

SCHEDULE:

The Beavers once again will challenge themselves as they will face three teams that won their conference championships and two teams that made it to the NCAA tournament.  The Beaver will open up on the Road against defending Sunrise Conference champion Fisher College in Boston.  The Beavers home opener is vs. conference foe Husson College on April 14^th.