Black Bears reflecting on bittersweet season UM must get over abrupt exit, loss of 6 starters

Instead of playing for the America East championship, several University of Maine softball players had to watch from the stands at Kessock Field Saturday as Albany won its second straight conference title.

Maine’s early exit from the four-team, double-elimination tourney was a sour finish for a team that racked up a program-record 35 wins, won the America East regular season title, won all seven of its conference series, and earned the top seed and the right to host the tournament.

Maine’s first-year head coach, Stacey Sullivan, said the Bears were under a lot of pressure as the regular season wound down and they continued to pile on wins – seven in a row at one point in late April – and it became clear they were in line for to host the tournament.

“It’s just been something new for them, being regular season champs,” said Sullivan, who was named the America East Coach of the Year. “Any time you’re the No. 1 seed in a tournament teams are gonna come out gunning after you because they want to be the one to knock you off.”

Maine bowed this weekend. The clutch hits and runs that the Bears relied on didn’t come through, and other areas of the game that had been the Black Bears’ strong points this season – pitching and defense – looked shaky in losses to Boston University and University of Maryland Baltimore County.

Maine ended the regular season atop the standings for pitching, with a league-low 1.73 team ERA, and led America East with a .958 fielding percentage.

But the Bears hit just .258, sixth overall, led the league in strikeouts (299), and averaged 3.82 runs per game, again sixth in America East and by far the lowest of any of the four teams that advanced to the postseason.

“If you don’t get the hits and you can’t score runs, you can’t win games,” senior outfielder Dana Grimm said after Friday’s 5-1 loss to UMBC. “You can only depend on your pitchers for so long.”

Getting over the postseason hurdle will be tough next year as eight seniors, including six starters, will have graduated.

There was plenty of good news for the Black Bears this year that should translate into a solid pitching rotation, catching corps and experienced infield next season.

Redshirt freshman Jenna Balent developed into one of the top pitchers in the league with her 1.25 regular season ERA, and was named the conference Rookie of the Year.

Freshman Ashley Waters stepped in immediately to second base and the second spot in the lineup, and was named to the America East all-rookie team. Juniors Tara Vilardo and Kristie Hawkins got most of the starts at third and first, respectively, and wound up as two of the team’s top hitters. Vilardo’s 18 stolen bases were second-most for the Bears.

Junior catchers Maggie Soule and Beth Foltz also rounded into regular starters.

But the graduation losses will hurt.

Maine’s seniors include shortstop Brittany Cheney, who led the Bears in batting average (.367), hits (61), RBIs (34), stolen bases (20) and home runs (7), right fielder Erin Provost (.312, 32 RBIs, 5 home runs), and designated hitter-first baseman Amy Kuhl (.296, 26 RBIs).

Although Cheney is the only senior infielder this year, Maine’s entire outfield of Grimm, Provost and Molly McKinney all graduate.

And pitcher Sarah Bennis, who recorded 19 wins this year to tie the record for most wins in a season and also holds the mark for career strikeouts (478), has also used up her eligibility.

Sullivan is expecting eight freshmen next year, including two pitchers, a shortstop and two outfielders. In addition, freshman pitcher-third baseman Courtney Gingrich will likely take on a bigger role in 2007. Junior Kate Joseph of Northeast Harbor, who got two starts and made 18 appearances, mostly as a pinch runner, could also get start in an outfield position.