Hartford shuts down UM season> Youthful Black Bears swept from playoffs

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ORONO – There were no emotional goodbyes outside of the University of Maine baseball locker room Saturday night after the Black Bears had been swept by Hartford in their North Atlantic Conference quarterfinal series at Mahaney Diamond.

For one thing, only one senior starter moves on. And while it was a disappointing end to a frustrating season, the Bears know they’ll get a chance for redemption.

Hartford won Saturday’s opener 5-1, then held on for a 10-8 victory in the nightcap while advancing to the NAC championships that begin next Friday in Boston. Coach Mo Morhardt’s Hawks improved to 20-25.

The Black Bears finished at 20-33, breaking last year’s Maine record for losses.

Maine failed to survive occasional lapses in pitching and defense, and struggled with the bats while falling to the resurgent Hawks. Coach John Winkin said maturity was the critical missing ingredient.

“It turns out we were too young,” Winkin said. “As I just told the guys, we have it from (the neck) down. We’ve got to get better from (the neck) up.”

The players were not willing to take the “wait ’til next year” approach with the bitter taste of defeat still in their mouths.

“I’m still kind of hurt, especially the way I went out. I tied the strikeout record,” said freshman outfielder Mat Huff, who struck out in his last at-bat to tie Maine’s single-season record of 53.

“A lot of us have talent and athletic ability. It’s just that we’ve got to mature,” Huff added.

In spite of struggling to produce runs and playing from behind, the Bears did not bow out without making the Hawks earn it.

In a last-ditch effort to generate some offense, Winkin juggled his lineup slightly for Game 2. He also called upon several freshmen as the contest wore on.

Evidence of Maine’s resilience and future potential was borne out in a six-run, eighth-inning rally. Eight freshmen and a sophomore contributed to in the uprising.

With Hartford leading 10-2, Jeff Longo, Matt Trahan and Joe Polizzotti stroked consecutive singles to produce a run and Mat Huff was hit by a pitch, loading the bases. That set up a controversial play that marred the rally.

On Dan Catlin’s grounder to second base, Hartford shortstop Bob Ryan dropped the throw from Jim Shanley while trying to make the pivot. Base umpire Jon Tomshick ruled Huff out, saying Ryan had held it long enough and sending the Maine bench into a frenzy.

“(That call) really killed us,” Winkin said. “At the worst, we’d have been only one run behind after that inning.”

Steve Coombs chased reliever Ryan Donahue with a bad-hop RBI single past third, then Rob Cafaro came on to walk Tony Bianchi and Ryan Thibodeau, forcing in another run. Seth Tebbetts came on to induce Nick Caiazzo’s run-scoring fielder’s choice, then Longo delivered an RBI single to left, his second hit of the inning, to cut the deficit to 10-8.

However, Tebbetts induced Trahan to pop out and, ultimately, preserve the victory for the Hawks.

“During that rally, I know I felt something special,” Longo said of the emotional surge. “We had eight freshmen on the field and a bunch of first-year pitchers. We had a lot of tough luck this year, but it’s going to even out.”

Hartford had scored early, loading the bases against senior righthander Mark Ballard with nobody out in the first inning. Two outs later, a throwing error by sore-armed third baseman Caiazzo allowed three runs to score.

Then, Ballard had J. Wallace picked off second base, only to have the throw to third by shortstop Shiro Ando hit the runner and allow the run to score.

“I went offensively instead of defensively (with the lineup) and it backfired right away,” Winkin said. “We had two big errors in that inning and that threw us out.”

The Hawks added two runs in the second on an RBI double by Josh Formica and Kevin Russell’s run-producing single, then chased Ballard on Wallace’s two-run homer with one out in the third. Reliever Ryan Smith gave up two more runs on a Brendan Turner double and Ryan’s two-run homer.

Four freshman pitchers no-hit Hartford the rest of the way.

Maine had scored single runs on Huff’s solo blast to left in the third and an RBI single by Huff in the sixth. The Bears hit into three double plays and stranded nine runners through six innings, going 2-for-12 with men in scoring position.

“Inning after inning, we were leaving men on the bases,” Winkin lamented.

In Game 1, Scott LaRock owned Maine after surrendering two hits and a run in the first inning. He gave up four hits over the final eight innings.

Hartford capitalized on LeRoy Decker’s lapse of control to score all five of its runs in the second inning. Four walks and a hit batter plated the first run, then Dave Tober and Formica had RBI singles and Russell a two-run double.

Decker breezed through the last seven innings, giving up two hits. Maine failed to muster any offensive support against LaRock.

The Bears scored their lone run in the first on a one-out double by Ando and Longo’s run-scoring single.

Hawks 5, Black Bears 1

(Saturday’s First Game)

Hartford Maine

Name ab r h bi Name ab r h bi

Formica, lf 4 1 1 1 Huff, cf 4 0 1 0

Russell, 3b 4 0 1 2 Ando, ss 4 1 1 0

Leonard, cf 3 0 0 0 Longo, 1b 4 0 2 1

Hilt, c 2 1 0 0 Puleo, c 4 0 1 0

Riccio, 1b 3 1 0 0 Coombs, rf 4 0 0 0

Wallace, rf 2 1 0 0 Caiazzo, lf 4 0 0 0

Turner, dh 2 0 0 1 Bianchi, dh 2 0 0 0

b-Tracy 0 0 0 0 a-Polizzotti 1 0 0 0

Tober, 2b 3 1 2 1 c-Ellis 1 0 0 0

Shanley, 2b 1 0 1 0 Trahan, 3b 2 0 0 0

Ryan, ss 4 0 0 0 Catlin, 2b 3 0 1 0

Totals 28 5 5 5 Totals 33 1 6 1

a-grounded out for Bianchi in the seventh

b-ran for Turner in the ninth

c-grounded out for Polizzotti in the ninth

Hartford 050 000 000 – 5

Maine 100 000 000 – 1

E – Riccio, Russell; Decker 2B – Russell; Ando LOB – Hartford 4, Maine 6 DP – Ando to Catlin to Longo, Catlin to Ando to Longo, Puleo to Trahan SB – Tober

Pitching Summary

PITCHER IP H R ER BB SO

Hartford

LaRock (W,7-5) 9 6 1 1 1 5

Maine

Decker (L,4-7) 8 4 5 5 5 6

Wickett 1 1 0 0 1 1

HBP – Wallace 2 (both by Decker) TIME -2:14

Hawks 10, Black Bears 8

(Saturday’s Second Game)

Hartford Maine

Name ab r h bi Name ab r h bi

Formica, lf 4 2 2 1 Huff, cf 4 1 2 2

Russell, 3b 3 1 1 1 Catlin, 2b 6 1 1 1

Leonard, cf 4 1 1 0 Coombs, rf 5 1 3 1

Hilt, c 3 0 0 0 Puleo, dh 3 0 0 0

Riccio, 1b 5 1 1 0 a-Gladu 1 0 0 0

Wallace, rf 4 2 1 2 b-Bianchi 0 1 0 0

Turner, dh 5 1 1 0 Ellis, c 3 0 0 0

Tober, 2b 3 1 1 0 Thibodeau, c 0 0 0 0

Shanley, 2b 2 0 0 0 Caiazzo, 3b-lf 5 1 1 1

Ryan, ss 2 1 1 2 Longo, lf-1b 4 1 2 1

Jolliffe, 1b 3 0 2 0

Trahan, 3b 2 1 1 0

Ando, ss 3 0 0 0

Polizzotti, ss 2 1 1 1

Totals 35 10 9 6 Totals 41 8 13 8

a-struck out for Puleo in the seventh

b-walked for Gladu in the eighth

Hartford 424 000 000 – 10

Maine 001 001 060 – 8

E – Ryan, Russell, Tober, Riccio; Caiazzo, Ando, Jolliffe 2B – Formica 2, Turner; Caiazzo HR – Wallace (5), Ryan (1); Huff (3) LOB – Hartford 8, Maine 11 DP – Schroeder to Ryan to Riccio, Ryan to Shanley to Riccio; Caiazzo to Jolliffe, Catlin to Ando to Jolliffe SB – Trahan S – Ryan

Pitching Summary

PITCHER IP H R ER BB SO

Hartford

Schroeder (W,2-3) 6 8 2 2 2 1

Donahue 1 1/3 4 5 5 1 1

Cafaro 0 0 1 1 2 0

Tebbetts 2/3 1 0 0 0 0

LaRock (S,1) 1 0 0 0 0 2

Maine

Ballard (L,3-7) 2 1/3 7 8 4 1 2

Smith 2/3 2 2 2 0 1

Veilleux 2 0 0 0 2 3

Foran 1 0 0 0 2 2

Hanning 2 0 0 0 1 3

Quinn 1 0 0 0 0 0

HBP – Formica (by Smith), Wallace (by Foran), Hilt (by Hanning); Huff (by Donahue) WP – Foran TIME -3:04; ATT – 331