Decker kept pressure off with best yet

ORONO – LeRoy Decker has been a member of the University of Maine baseball team long enough to know a 12-23 record and sixth-place standing in the North Atlantic Conference at midseason didn’t cut it with anyone who cares about the program. Not after five College World Series appearances in the 1980s and an NCAA Regional appearance as recently as 1993.

With that in mind, the senior co-captain and No. 1 starting pitcher in UM coach John Winkin’s rotation knew his teammates might be putting extra pressure on themselves heading into Saturday’s home-opening doubleheader against NAC rival Hartford at Mahaney Diamond.

“We talked about this the other day in practice,” said Decker, a few minutes after showing his teammates the proper way to execute in such situations. “These were definitely must-win games, but we told ourselves not to press… I don’t think we pressed.”

Nope. Maine sure didn’t press. Unless you count Decker’s turning the Hawk hitters into so much pressed duck.

All the 6-foot-2, 200-pound righthander did was bear down and fire his first career shutout, an economical, seven-inning, 3-hitter that featured eight strikeouts and zero, count ’em, zero walks.

The light-hitting Black Bears managed to plate a couple of runs in the raw breeze blowing straight in from left field and made all the tough defensive chances behind him. Add it up and it equaled a 2-0 win.

The momentum carried over. In game 2, Maine junior righty Steve Coombs picked up where Decker left off, shutting the Hawks out for five innings. The bullpen mopped up. Result: a 3-0 win, a sweep, improvement to 8-6 in the NAC and a firmer grip on a top-six finish.

None of the 235 faithful in the stands were making reservations for Omaha afterward. But it was progress, keeping Maine on a climb that has seen the Bears win 11 of their last 14 to pull within nine games of .500.

As the chilled players got their circulation restarted in the clubhouse afterward, Winkin credited Decker’s opener for igniting the sweep. So did Coombs.

“He got me pumped up, just watching him,” said Coombs, as he pulled off his spikes. “The thing about him is he can go out and prove we’re a better team. He can throw anything for strikes. He’s consistent. If we play defense behind him and get him some runs, this is what happens.”

Decker simply shrugged when asked why days like this haven’t happened more for him this year. Saturday’s win upped his record to only 2-4. His ERA dropped from 4.29 to 3.67, respectable but hardly Billy Swift-ian.

“Two of the losses were to LSU and Miami, two great teams,” Decker allowed. “It was disappointing to be 1-4, but I’ve just been concentrating on being consistent and throwing strikes and not worrying about anything else.”

It would be hard to be more consistent than Decker’s been lately. He’s now pitched 12 2/3 innings without issuing a walk against New Hampshire and the Hawks, striking out 11 in that span. His ERA over his last 26 1/3 innings is 1.72.

“He’s always pitched well, but we haven’t always played good `D’ behind him,” is how UM catcher Steve Puleo explained Decker’s disappointing record. “The difference today was we just played good `D.”‘

You’d wait a long time for Decker, 23, to blame others for his lifetime 7-12 mark. Accessible and intelligent, he has always exhibited a maturity rare among his peers. Then again, there are reasons for that.

Decker has been an adult for a while. He’s married. His wife, Anntoinette, is a graduate student working on her doctorate in biochemistry. Decker himself is a perennial Dean’s list student in physical education with a goal of becoming a therapist.

As an athlete, he’s played on a state championship football team and league champion baseball teams at Walpole (Mass.) High. As an end on the Walpole football team, he was catching passes from QB Todd Collins, who went on to star at Michigan.

Then there’s his life experience. At age 10 he took a shotgun blast in the right side, the result of a young friend accidentally discharging the gun. He nearly died, but struggled back to pitch Little League the next summer.

“That makes me thank God every day just to be here,” Decker says now of the incident.

After choosing to attend Maine despite scholarship offers from most of the other NAC schools, Decker lost most of his sophomore season when he had his appendix removed.

“He’s a guy who has overcome tough going. He has courage,” summed up Winkin.

Yes. Because of that, LeRoy Decker, and Maine baseball, have things going their way for a change.