Wet field sends UMaine packing Bears to play Hartford in Bangor

ORONO – Spring baseball in Maine is much anticipated.

Yet it’s far from the ideal scenario for a game meant to be played during the summer, especially when your field is under water.

Such is the case this week for the University of Maine, which for the first time in recent memory won’t be able to play its home opener at Mahaney Diamond, upon which the Black Bears have not set foot this spring.

Instead, UMaine was forced to move its games to Mansfield Stadium in Bangor.

Through the generosity of the folks who run Mansfield, coach Paul Kostacopoulos’ Black Bears will play their three-game America East series against Hartford on Saturday and Sunday – without any worries about field conditions.

“The people at Mansfield have been great to us,” said Kostacopoulos, whose office overlooks Mahaney Diamond, which on Thursday had standing water throughout most of the outfield after a couple of days of rain.

“At this point in the year, in my opinion, it shouldn’t be like this,” he said.

For all its amenities, including Mahaney Clubhouse, a newly expanded press box, plenty of seating, and a building that houses concessions and restrooms, the playing surface takes a long time to round into game shape early in the year.

“If you look around, the softball field’s fine, and the football practice field. We need to fix the [baseball] field,” Kostacopoulos added as the UMaine softball team practiced 100 yards away at Kessock Field.

While UMaine baseball teams have forever been forced to come up with creative practice plans inside the field house, out in the parking lot or, more recently, on the Morse Field AstroTurf, Kostacopoulos believes the situation needs to be addressed.

The field house offers the Bears a large space and a versatile surface most other New England programs don’t have, but UMaine needs to be able to get on its field as early as possible to make up for the climactic advantages afforded teams located in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and points south.

UMaine is trying to re-establish itself this season with a much less experienced ballclub than in recent years. However, the Bears are unable to get in the kind of daily practice necessary to make the needed improvements.

“When you don’t practice [on the field], it’s just a killer,” said Kostacopoulos, who Thursday put his team through some drills on the AstroTurf, worked on situations in the field house, and hit in the indoor cages.

“A lot of it has to do with understanding the conditions and being able to react to them,” said senior captain Simon Williams of Portland. “Getting out on the field is such a positive, but we’ve got to wait until it gets all dried up, and who knows when that’ll be.”

After this weekend, the Bears are scheduled to play at Mahaney only eight other days this season.

Kostacopoulos knows that in spite of the hardships, the Bears can’t make excuses.

“We have to be determined right now, no matter what challenges we face, and prepare ourselves to be successful,” said Kostacopoulos, whose teams have posted a 128-64 record (.667) over the last 31/2 seasons.

“This is [the point in the season] when our team is going to get better or it’s not,” he said.

Possible solutions to improving Mahaney Diamond could include digging up the outfield and putting in a better drainage system or even installing some type of artificial surface. Either option would require considerable financial resources and most likely would have to be funded by private donors.