ORONO – Growing up in a remote area of Maine like Jackman, there weren’t a lot of softball resources for an active kid like Jess Brady. So Brady turned to her physical education teacher at Forest Hills High School, who happened to be former University of Maine baseball player Mike LeBlanc.

“After school it would just be the two of us practicing. During the summers he did the same thing,” said Brady, now a sophomore on the UMaine softball team. “He taught me mechanics and if I was struggling he helped me. He was definitely the one to say you have potential, you can be better.”

Encouragement from LeBlanc, plus summer league games, helped land Brady at the University of Maine last year. Her speed, bat and defense have made her a key contributor as the Black Bears open play today in the America East championship in Stony Brook, N.Y.

No. 3 Maine will face No. 2 Albany (32-8, 17-4) in a first-round contest at noon. No. 1 Boston University (29-20, 17-3) and No. 4 Stony Brook (12-10, 25-31) will play at 2:30 p.m.

The double-elimination championship continues Friday with a winner’s bracket game at 11 a.m. followed by a loser’s bracket game at 1:30 p.m. Another elimination game follows at 4 p.m.

The championship game will be played Saturday at 12 noon with a second game to follow if necessary.

The winner of the America East Championship earns an automatic bid to the NCAA softball championship.

Brady played on the Forest Hills team as an eighth-grader. Competition was hard to come by in Western Maine Class D, as the Tigers faced few teams with windmill pitchers.

So Brady joined up with a summer-league team based in Buckfield, the same team on which current Black Bear senior Amanda Stevens played. UMaine coach Deb Smith came to a game and got a first-hand look at the center fielder’s natural talent.

“When you’ve got a kid who can cover the outfield like she can, with a good arm and a lot of speed, and the fact that she can swing the bat, that right there draws interest, Class D or not,” Smith said. “She’s a strong kid and has an intense work ethic, and with that combination you’re going to succeed.”

Brady earned a starting role as a freshman and played in all 57 games last year. She’ll get a start in her 103rd consecutive game today.

She has 15 RBIs and a team-best 55 hits and a .405 on-base percentage this season.

Brady has been stellar on the bases this year. Last week she went 6-for-6 in stolen-base attempts en route to breaking the single-season stolen base record of 18 set by Tina Ouellette in 1987 and tied by Melissa Creegan in 1997 and Sara Jewett in 2000. Brady now has 23 steals and her .359 batting average leads the team and is fourth overall in America East.

Despite her offensive prowess, Brady prefers defense.

“I’m really not a fan of hitting. It’s taken me a while. My batting average was alright last year but I wasn’t a good hitter mentally and my mechanics weren’t very good. This it’s better I’m not as comfortable hitting as I am on the bases or in the field.”

Her teammates appreciate her defensive skills, too.

“With Brady it’s like having 10-on-1 because she gets these awesome catches,” said pitcher Jenna Merchant. “She really relaxes me out there.”