Moran leaves Maine team Ex-Hampden star not involved in incident at Arizona

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In spite of chilly, soggy spring conditions, the University of Maine baseball team on Sunday squeezed in two nonconference games at New York Tech and wound up splitting the doubleheader.

It was the first action for the Black Bears since their spring trip – which ended with a four-game series March 16-18 at Arizona State – and since the dismissal from the team of sophomore catcher Sean Parker and freshman pitcher David Ricker for violations of team rules.

UMaine, which takes a 5-12 record into this weekend’s three-game set at the University of New Orleans, lost a third player last week.

Sophomore pitcher Pat Moran, a scholarship player from Winterport, announced he was leaving the team, according to head coach Steve Trimper.

“He chose to leave the team on his own. I think he’s going to try to find a situation that works [better] for him,” explained Trimper, who said Moran was not involved in the undisclosed incident that led to the dismissal of the players.

Moran, a former Hampden Academy standout, appeared in four games this season, allowing 16 hits and seven earned runs in seven innings of work. He had an 0-1 record and a 9.00 earned run average.

Moran was 1-2 (8.61 ERA) in nine games, including four starts, during 2006.

“I wish him extremely well,” Trimper added. “He’s a good kid.”

Trimper said the team has been resilient after the recent difficulties.

“It’s just unfortunate,” Trimper said. “When you’re a student-athlete, you represent the university and a lot of other people. We just can’t have things happen that are inappropriate.”

Moran could not be reached for comment.

Trimper said Parker and Ricker must sit out this semester and then could have their status re-evaluated.

Bears back in Mahaney Dome

It was business as usual Monday in the Mahaney Dome, UMaine’s air-supported athletic practice facility.

Crews from UMaine and Yeadon Fabric Structures, the Canadian company that manufactured the material that covers the facility, spent three days last week repairing two tears that developed in the fabric March 17 as the result of heavy snow, rain and high winds.

Will Biberstein, UMaine’s associate athletic director for internal affairs, said the dome was back in use Saturday for a 6 a.m. football practice. He praised the cooperative effort that helped restore the building to working order.

“We got it done in under a week’s time,” Biberstein said. “It really showed how well the university can work as a team and what we can achieve when we work together and we’re all on the same page.”

With the help of UMaine’s facilities staff, two Yeadon workers Wednesday began applying a patch that is made up of a section of the same material – one that measures twice as wide as the tear on each side of the rip.

Once the Teflon coating was scraped off the outside of the covering, the materials were placed together, warmed with heat guns, and rolled out to form a strong bond.

“By Thursday, they had all the patch work done and inflated it and were doing the patch on the internal membrane,” Biberstein said.

With the dome reinflated, UMaine workers repaired damage to the lighting system, which included nine broken lamps among 48 in all. All electrical issues, including the operation of the emergency lighting, and the operation of emergency exits, were addressed Friday.

An inspection by the Orono Fire Department deemed the facility safe for use.

“I would say right now it’s as strong as it was originally,” Biberstein said of the dome covering. “We’ll continue to assess it and evaluate it over the next couple of months.”

The university will work with its insurance carrier to determine its level of financial responsibility for the damage. It is possible one of the three large panels that make up the roof could be completely replaced at a later date.

“It’s up running and perfect,” Trimper said Tuesday prior to the Bears’ 3 p.m. practice. “Will Biberstein and the facilities guys did a tremendous job. They got it done real quick and it wasn’t as bad as we all anticipated.”

McGraw now backup catcher

UMaine senior co-captain Matt McGraw now will find himself behind the plate occasionally the season after the departure of Parker.

He will back up promising freshman Myckie Lugbauer, who has been thrust into the starting role.

After offseason shoulder injury prevented McGraw from catching last season, he agreed to play in the outfield this season to allow for the development of Lugbauer.

“He’s completely healthy now,” Trimper said of McGraw. “He’s a versatile guy. He can play anywhere. We’ve got to have him in the lineup one way or the other.”

Lugbauer already was earning significant playing time. The 6-foot-4, 215-pounder leads the team with a .349 batting average, including two home runs and eight runs batted in. He has played errorless ball in 13 games, including 11 starts.

“We moved McGraw this year to the outfield because we had pretty high hopes for Myckie,” Trimper said.