Devils seeking upset vs. top-ranked Maine

Central Connecticut State University’s Blue Devils did not accomplish one of their goals: winning the North Atlantic Conference.

But in their final season in the NAC before leaving for the East Coast Conference, the Devils produced the conference’s Coach of the Year in George Redman; the Player of the Year in first baseman-pitcher Mike Sciortino and the Pitcher of the Year in righty David Adam.

And their 25-12 campaign was good enough to earn them the one at-large berth to the ECAC Tournament and a first-round matchup against NAC champ and rival Maine.

“We set a goal of winning 25 games and we’re right on the button,” said Redman. “We could have broken that but we were rained out. We didn’t win the conference but we played good enough (to win it) if we had a little bit of luck. But it works both ways. We caught some breaks, too.

“We’re very happy where we’re standing right now,” added Redman. “We’ve got a tough opener. We’ll be playing before their home folks and there will be a big crowd there. I don’t know what all that means and you never know how your kids are going to react. But we’ll be ready to play.”

In analyzing his team, Redman said, “The strength of our team is pitching. No doubt about it. We’re also good up the middle. Our catcher (Brian Massey) is as good a catcher as there is in the league. The center fielder (Bill Gale) runs the ball down pretty good and we’ve solidified the shortstop position with Adam Hathorn. That was the spot we needed to mend. If he can get the job done at shortstop, we’ll be as good as anybody we play.”

The hard-throwing Adam was perfect on the year, winning all seven of his starts. He has a sparkling 2.42 ERA to go with his 7-0 mark and he has fanned 50 hitters in 48 1/3 innings. Lefty Sciortino was 2-4 with a 4.28 ERA and the other two starters are Paul Caccavale (3-2, 3.79) and Chris Hooker (3-1, 3.09).

Entering a 9-5 win over Wagner, the Blue Devils’ team ERA was 3.86.

Sciortino has been the offensive catalyst. He was hitting .461 with 2 homers, 10 doubles and 30 runs batted in. RF Vin Rossy (.396, 5 homers, 26 RBIs) and 2B Bob Stefanik (.373, 6 homers, 19 RBIs, 18 stolen bases) have also had outstanding years. Gale was at .286 with 2 homers, 17 RBIs and a team-high 19 steals) and the other regulars have been 1B-LF Pat Smith (.280, 4 homers, 20 RBIs), 3B Chuck Lane (.264, 18 RBIs) and Massey (.259, 2 homers, 21 RBIs).

Hathorn was at .182.