A year ago, Paul Kostacopoulos had serious reservations about his University of Maine baseball team, particularly the youthful pitching staff.

Based on his observations so far during the fall season, the Black Bears’ third-year coach hopes UMaine can make progress toward re-establishing itself as an America East contender.

The Bears went 24-26 overall and 12-16 in America East last spring. UMaine graduated five positional starters and lost ace lefthander Tom Koutrouba to the major leagues, but has a handful of promising players ready to step in.

“It’s a long way off, but at least I feel we have the basis to start building,” Kostacopoulos said. “We’ve had a very productive fall.”

The Bears, who swept three games from the Canadian Academy of Baseball Sept. 18-20 in Orono, finish off their fall season with intrasquad games Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

UMaine’s pitching experience is improved. Only Koutrouba and sophomore Jason Hall, who didn’t return to school, are gone. Although No. 2 starter Eric O’Brien is coming off shoulder surgery and hasn’t pitched, Jim Bailin, Jon Dickinson, Rob Worcester of Cherryfield, and Jared Cochran of Norridgewock have improved.

Rusty Tucker, a lefthander from Gloucester, Mass., should step into the starting rotation immediately. His fastball is consistently clocked in the mid-to-high 80s (mph) and he has a good curveball.

“He can strike people out without necessarily walking a lot of people,” Kostacopoulos said. “We’re really excited about him.”

Chris Emke, a righthander from Canada, is expected to join the squad for the second semester. The junior college transfer, a two-time pro draft pick, has one class to take at Hill College in Texas.

Jason Graham, a 6-foot-5, 265-pound former offensive tackle on the UMaine football team, and converted infielder Matt Truman of Otisfield also could eventually get some work on the mound.

“Last fall, we started from scratch with our pitching staff,” Kostacopoulos said. “The big questions are our depth in pitching, and can these guys continue to improve?”

Veteran positional starters include catcher and co-captain Kregg Jarvais of Skowhegan, who is sitting out while recovering from an elbow injury, along with third baseman and co-captain Brian Poire, and middle infielders Julian Bracali and Bryan Harvie of South Portland. Freshman Quin Peale of Ontario has shown promise at shortstop.

Jon Hambleton is among those vying for the job at first base, where Peale could also see time.

The Bears must replace their outfield, which accounted for 20 home runs and 117 RBIs and batted a combined .337 in 1998. Freshman Brett Ouellette of Keene, N.H., has been on a tear at the plate this fall. Mike Ross, a late-summer signee out of Foxboro, Mass., via Worcester Academy, also has been steady.

“Those two have been real pleasant surprises,” Kostacopoulos said.

Slugger Kyle Brunnen, another Canadian transfer, is expected to start once he arrives in January after completing course work at Grayson County College in Texas.

The 7-1 UMaine field hockey team is off to its best start in five years. But as UMaine coach Terry Kix looks ahead, all she can think about is the tough schedule.

Of the next seven teams Maine will face, six have been in the national polls at some point this season. After the Bears cracked the Top 20 by taking the 19th spot last week, Maine hangs in the polls after tying Kent State for the 20th spot this week.

Two teams that have moved up significantly in the polls in the last week are conference rivals. New Hampshire, which UMaine meets Sunday at Orono, moved from 12th to 10th and Delaware, which ends UMaine’s rough seven-game stretch on Oct. 23, moved from 14th to sixth.

When Maine plays Dartmouth today, Kix said the team will be looking to beat a team that has suffered losses to nationally ranked teams, but is also preparing for New Hampshire on Sunday.

“A lot of teams are doing better than last year. New Hampshire is having a better year,” Kix said. “It’s important we take one game at a time. We have a lot of opportunity to improve our national ranking. At the same time, we’ll play some high-caliber teams and it’s realistic to know we’ll suffer some disappointment. We just need to learn in each game, win or lose, and take advantage of the high level of play. We’re playing well right now. However, we’re working in different areas and hoping to improve.”

Kix said she’d like to see more offensive production from the field rather than from the offensive corner unit – although UMaine is strong on its corners. The Bears’ “push-out” on the corner, senior captain Becky Blue, leads the nation in assists with nine, an average of 1.13 per game.