Bears stay upbeat after tough `spring training’

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University of Maine baseball coach John Winkin hates to lose…. with a passion.

Thus, one might imagine the Black Bears boss was distraught while reflecting on the program’s worst spring trip ever. Maine returned to Orono with a 1-17 record, mired in a school-record, 15-game losing streak.

In spite of the team’s early woes, Winkin is trying to keep the dismal start in perspective.

“It was tough to lose, no question. I’m a terrible loser,” admitted Maine’s 20th-year coach. “To be honest with you, I’m not really discouraged about it. That was spring training and we knew it was going to be a crash course.”

It didn’t take Winkin long to realize he would have to be more patient with this freshman-laden ballclub. After injuries to veteran starters Todd Livingston and Glen Stupienski, the Bears wound up playing seven freshmen and a sophomore regularly.

“I stomached more than I would normally, unless it was mental,” Winkin said. “I felt I was as patient as I’ve ever been on this kind of a trip.”

Instead of dwelling on the negatives, Winkin is looking ahead in the hope this experience will make for a better team in the future.

“I tried to look at it like, hey, you’re building something now for a three- or four-year cycle,” said Winkin, who refuses to count this club out now that the North Atlantic Conference season is at hand. “These guys are paying a little bit of a price, but, boy, are they learning.”

While Winkin expected some of the rookies to struggle early, he had hoped for a better effort from the pitching staff. The Bears compiled a 7.82 earned run average, allowing 225 hits in 145 innings, including 63 extra-base hits.

Maine pitchers struck out 86 and walked 84.

“That was what let us down, the pitching,” Winkin admitted. “When you’re saddled with having to play with rookies, the one thing we turned to, thinking it was going to get us through, was the pitching. It turned out the pitching was trying to find it’s way.”

This staff may have had reason to start a bit slowly. Three of the top four starters – Mark Ballard, Jim Hanning, and Lance Bogardus – were coming off injuries. The other, LeRoy Decker, was moving from relief into a starting role.

“You had all these guys pitching their way, unsure of themselves,” Winkin said. “They’re wondering, No. 1, how good are their arms, were they healthy again? And, at the same time, they were trying to get into the groove of pitching again.”

The improvement began to show as the Bears’ trip wound down, giving Winkin reason to be optimistic. The biggest plus is the staff returned home healthy.

“Now, they know they can throw,” Winkin said. “The only thing we didn’t get most of the trip was the big pitch, and that was what hurt us the most.”

Assistant coach Jay Kemble, who handles the pitchers, was quick to take responsibility for the performance of the staff.

“The biggest disappointment was in myself for not getting them ready,” Kemble said. “We’d make some great pitches, then lose focus. The biggest thing is the number of walks we gave up.”

Hanning, a freshman lefthander who missed last season after undergoing surgery on his left elbow, led the way in California. He posted an 0-2 record with a 3.31 earned run average in 16 1/3 innings. He issued a team-high 15 walks.

Winkin said the surprise among pitchers was freshman Dave Foran of Biddeford, who didn’t earn the right to make the trip until the day before the team left. He is expected to share duties as a closer along with freshmen Garrett Quinn and Greg White, who also were solid.

One bright spot for Maine was its defense in the infield, which is made up exclusively of underclassmen with Livingston and Stupienski hurt. Jeff Longo played first, with Dan Catlin at second, Shiro Ando at shortstop, and Matt Trahan at third.

Maine’s team batting average stands at .242, with only four players hitting better than .270. Livingston was 8-for-18 (.421) before getting hurt, while junior catcher Steve Puleo (.388), freshman outfielder Nick Caiazzo (.352), and Catlin (.311) have been the catalysts.

The Bears managed only 21 extra-base hits among their 144 hits.

“We left too many men on base, you can’t quarrel with that,” Winkin said. “But, on the other hand, we hit the ball hard, especially the last few days, only they were right at people.”

Winkin has been impressed with the resiliency of his young squad.

“The kids never got down,” he said. “I really like this bunch. They just have a great attitude about them. When we got through we said, `Hey, forget about the past, let’s go home and play.’ And that’s the way we’re looking at it.”

Team Statistics

Batting Leaders

G AB R H RBI Avg. 2B 3B HR TB SB Livingston 5 19 4 8 2 .421 0 0 0 8 1 Puleo 18 67 9 26 9 .388 4 0 0 30 0 Caiazzo 18 71 8 25 8 .352 2 0 2 33 0 Catlin 18 61 5 19 4 .311 3 0 1 25 1 Ballard 16 52 6 14 4 .269 2 0 0 16 0 Thibodeau 8 15 2 3 0 .200 1 0 0 4 0 Bianchi 14 46 5 9 3 .196 0 0 0 9 0 Ando 15 50 5 9 8 .180 0 1 0 11 0 Trahan 18 51 8 9 7 .176 1 0 1 11 0 Longo 18 71 4 12 2 .169 1 0 0 13 7 Huff 18 59 7 8 8 .136 0 1 0 10 0 Ellis 10 18 2 2 1 .111 1 0 0 3 0 Polizzotti 10 5 1 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0 Polizzotti 10 5 1 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0 0 Stupienski 3 9 1 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0 0

PITCHING

Player G IP H ER BB K W L S ERA

Hanning 3 16 1/3 16 6 15 9 0 2 0 3.31

Ballard 4 24 25 14 13 15 0 3 0 5.25

White 3 5 8 3 2 1 0 0 0 5.40

Foran 3 5 7 3 4 7 0 1 0 5.40

Quinn 4 6 1/3 10 4 1 4 0 0 0 5.68

Smith 4 13 20 9 2 4 0 1 0 6.23

Decker 4 21 31 17 6 11 1 2 0 7.29

Coombs 3 10 16 10 8 4 0 1 0 9.00

Cassidy 4 11 1/3 26 12 8 6 0 2 0 9.53

Veilleux 3 7 10 8 8 7 0 1 0 10.29

Dryswak 5 10 23 15 8 11 0 1 0 13.50

Bogardus 3 16 33 25 9 7 0 3 0 14.06