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It’s been four long years, but the University of Maine softball team is back in the America East Conference Tournament.
Head coach Deb Smith has been there as a player. So has assistant coach Michelle Puls, who led the last Black Bear playoff team in 1998. But this is the first appearance for UMaine’s six current seniors. The group will have its first, and ultimately, last chance to prove something in the postseason.
“We are so excited to be playing in the tournament,” senior shortstop Erica Sobel said. “This group of seniors has been through so much and it’s nice to finally be rewarded for all the hard work.”
The No. 3-seed Black Bears will put their pride on the line today in the first round of the four-team, double elimination tournament at Archie Post Field in Burlington, Vt.
UMaine hosts No. 2-seed Hartford University, a team the Black Bears split four games with during the regular season. UMaine secured the third seed, edging Albany University, by taking three of four contests from Binghamton University at home last weekend.
“Going in third instead of fourth is nice for us, in terms of team morale,” coach Smith said. “I think we match up pretty well with Hartford.”
No. 1-seed Boston University and fourth-seeded Albany square off in the first game today, followed by the UMaine-Hartford match-up. Boston University led the conference all season, finishing with a 19-3 mark in league games, but senior third baseman Leigh-Ann Hlywak said the tournament is wide open.
“I think it’s totally up for grabs,” Hlywak said. “Albany could very easily upset BU. I think every team is pretty well matched.”
In addition to splitting the regular season with Hartford, the Black Bears also split a quartet at Albany. UMaine did lose three of four to BU, but the three defeats were by a total of four runs. The four losses to Hartford and Albany were all one-run affairs as well.
The double elimination format begins with two games today, followed by three more on Friday and the tournament culminates with the finals on Saturday. The objective is simple: Don’t lose more than once.
“The nice thing about [double elimination] is, it’s not do or die,” Smith said. “If, for some reason, we have a bad game, the format allows us a chance for redemption.”
Senior right-fielder Aliesha Rautenberg agrees.
“It’s nice to know that we can lose, but we don’t want to go in with the mindset that we’re going to lose,” Rautenberg said. “We play better when we don’t put pressure on ourselves.”
Katie Chruchill, Rachel Bain and Karen Sherwood join tri-captains Sobel, Hlywak and Rautenberg as the Black Bears who will be counted on to produce in the playoffs. Smith said her team’s experience might give them an edge over the other schools.
“I think our senior leadership is going to be a huge thing,” Smith said. “These six seniors want it so badly and they are just playing with a tremendous amount of motivation.”
Seniors aside, the health of one of Smith’s first-year players could be a large concern. Jenna Merchant, who has 17 wins and a 1.44 earned run average to lead the pitching staff, is nursing a sore ankle and her status remains uncertain, Smith said Tuesday.
“We won’t know until Thursday. If she feels better, she’ll pitch, but for now we’ll just have to wait and see,” Smith said.
If Merchant is cleared to play, she will most likely get the start in the circle against Hartford. If not, sophomore hurler Candace Jaegge will get the nod. Jaegge has pitched well despite her 8-17 record and has been strong as of late.
Sobel and Hlywak lead the Black Bear offense with help from first-year center fielder Jess Brady. Hlywak tops the team with a .318 average and leads America East with 11 home runs and 34 runs batted in.
Sobel is second among Black Bears at .312, and 29 walks boost her on-base percentage to .415. Sobel also has 26 RBIs and a team-leading 15 doubles. Left-hander Brady is batting .303 and does most of her damage with speed, she leads the club with nine stolen bases in 11 attempts.
UMaine finished the regular season leading the conference in team defense with a .966 fielding percentage, committing just 62 errors in 55 games. Sobel said strong defense should keep the Black Bears in every game.
“We’ve been playing great defense all season, so if we keep that up we’ll be OK,” Sobel said.
Bangor Daily News