The University of Maine’s baseball team plays Pace University in Pleasantville, N.Y., Friday afternoon and North Atlantic Conference doubleheaders against Boston University in Wareham, Mass., on Saturday and Sunday.

One of the 3-20 Bears’ few bright spots going into the weekend has been freshman center fielder T.J. Sheedy. The coaching staff is thanking its lucky stars that a bizarre twist of fate brought Sheedy to Maine.

A couple of years ago, Maine assistant coach Jay Kemble attended the Bay State Games, a prestigious competition for the best high school athletes in Massachusetts. One of the players he was considering was Sheedy, an outfielder from Stoneham (Mass.) High School.

“When I came back, I told Coach (John) Winkin that he couldn’t cut it at Maine,” recalled Kemble.

Several months later, there was a revelation.

Although Sheedy was listed in the Bay State Games program, somebody else was wearing his uniform.

“I never got invited,” said Sheedy.

“The kid I saw was a spitting image of T.J.,” said Kemble.

Eventually, Winkin and Kemble watched the real T.J. Sheedy play ball only to discover that he was headed for the University of Alabama.

However, Alabama changed coaches and a promised financial package never came through for Sheedy, it was explained. He wound up with a scholarship to Maine.

Entering Friday’s game, the 5-foot-9, 170-pound Sheedy leads the Bears in hitting (.313), hits (25), triples (2) and on-base percentage (.408). He is also second in total bases (31) and runs batted in (11). He has struck out only 11 times in 80 at-bats.

Sheedy had six consecutive hits against Drexel last weekend.

“Sometimes I go into a streak like that,” he said. “I seem to have good swings at everything.”

“He has great baseball sense and he’s very mature for a freshman,” said Winkin.

Sheedy, considered a quality center fielder by Winkin, said he hasn’t been that surprised by his success.

“I think I would have been dissatisfied if I hadn’t started off well,” said Sheedy.