You can tell if Larry Thomas is pitching for the University of Maine by the number of baseball scouts in the stands.

The Black Bear ace southpaw is a junior and it is his draft year. And he is putting up the types of numbers that attract scouts.

Thomas is 5-3 with a sparkling earned run average of 1.90. He leads the team in strikeouts with 73 and shares the team lead in shutouts (2) and complete games (5). Thomas has given up 52 hits in 66 2/3 innings and has walked only 25. The Winthrop, Mass., native has given up only 3 homers and 14 extra-base hits.

“You’ve got to like him,” said Len Merullo of the Major League Scouting Bureau. “He throws nice and easy, his fastball has a good tail on it, and he’s got a good curve. And he has kept improving.”

“You’ve got to like his breaking ball, he’s got good size, and his fastball has good life,” said Montreal Expos scout Bill MacKenzie. “He’s also a very good competitor.”

Hartford Coach Dan Gooley said Thomas was “good last year and he’s outstanding this year.”

Thomas was 3-2 with a 4.09 ERA as a freshman. Last year, he was 5-0 with a 3.41 ERA, including a 4-0 win over Miami.

He injured his arm and missed the ECAC playoffs and NCAA Northeast Regional, but he earned a spot in the Cape Cod League where he was 1-1 with 3 saves and a 2.33 ERA for league champion Yarmouth-Dennis. He was chosen to the Cape Cod League All-Star team.

“That helped my confidence a lot,” said Thomas, who also credited his Y-D and University of Maine teammate Mark Sweeney with being like a “father figure and showing me the ropes down there.”

Thomas said he set some goals at the outset of the season and “so far, I’ve reached them.”

“I’ve pitched my best every game and that’s all I can ask of myself,” said Thomas.

He capped a good spring trip with a gem, hurling 8 2/3 innings of five-hit, 12-strikeout baseball against the University of Miami. He lost 2-1 on two unearned runs.

Thomas thinks he is a different pitcher and person this year.

“I’ve matured a lot,” said Thomas. “Last year, I remember pitching five shutout innings against Northeastern and then they started hitting me (in a five-run sixth inning) and I began letting up on my fastball. That’s not the case this year. I’m on a mission. I want the ball (and I want to be in there at the end).”

Thomas has not only been strong at the end of games, he has also learned how to get people out consistently when he doesn’t have his best stuff.

That’s because the 6-foot-1, 188-pounder has more than just a fastball and a curve.

“I’ve been changing speeds on both my fastball and my curve, and my changeup is coming along well,” said Thomas. “And I’ve been hitting my spots. I’m not trying to strike everybody out.”

Maine Coach John Winkin said Thomas has had “much better location than he did a year ago. That has made him really effective. He has also grown up a lot mentally. He is in much better control of himself and his emotions.”

“When Larry’s on, you can’t touch him,” said Sweeney. “He not only can throw hard, he can finesse people by hitting the spots when he has to.”

Thomas could be drafted within the top five rounds in June and he is fully aware of the scouts in attendance at his games. But it doesn’t faze him.

“I’m pitching for my team, not for them,” said Thomas. “After all, my teammates are the guys who get the hits (and make the plays) for me.”

Thomas would like to get drafted high and begin his pro career. But he would also like to pitch for the United States Olympic team in 1992.

For the time being, he has another more immediate goal.

“I want to go to the College World Series, and I think we can,” said Thomas. “I’d like to prove to people that there is real good baseball in the East.”