It’s the rarest of seasons when the University of Maine at Farmington baseball team boards the bus for its season-opening road swing through Massachusetts and actually can see bare spots of mud-mottled grass on its own Hippach Field as the team leaves town.
If nothing else, the thought of being able to get outdoors in its own corner of the world by the first week of April is a nice omen for the Beavers, who hope to rebuild from last year’s frustrating 7-19 season in the North Atlantic Conference with a large group of freshmen and a vast array of homegrown talent.
UMF will travel to Worcester Polytechnic Institute for Saturday’s opener with no seniors, 10 first-year contributors and nine players from Western and Central Maine.
“The first thing we will need to do with this team is be patient,” UMF coach Dick Meader said in a pre-season news release.
“We could be starting as many as four freshmen in the lineup at one time.”
Three area sophomores lead what could develop into a solid starting rotation.
Jared Wales of New Gloucester emerged as the ace last spring, weaving a 3-2 mark with a 1.59 ERA that was second-lowest in the league.
Wales spun a pair of complete games and struck out 28 batters.
When he’s not playing shortstop, where he finished last season with a 12-game errorless streak, Jake Turner of Jay (2-1, 4.54) gives the Beavers a proven No. 2 hurler. Turner also batted .242 with five RBIs and led last year’s squad in extra-base hits.
Ben Saviello of Wilton (Mt. Blue) could bolster the rotation or might be valuable in relief, where freshmen Andrew Bellmore of Monmouth, Chip Burnham of Winthrop and Ryan DiPompo of Jay will be asked to contribute immediately.
Saviello’s high school teammate, junior Aaron Wolfe, drove in nine runs as the starting second baseman last season. Wolfe and sophomore center fielder Devin Gill of Gray give UMF strength up the middle defensively.
Corey Provencher of Rumford (Mountain Valley) also played center field in high school but is expected to return to right field, where he hit .224 as a freshman with six RBI in 23 starts.
“You never really know what your team is going to look like until once the season begins,” said Meader, alluding to the indoor practices that are so commonplace in the foothills.
“You spend a lot of time preparing and sorting through the mix in the fall.” UMF softball set at short
Hopes are even higher for the UMF softball team, which stormed to the NAC championship in 2005 and is ranked second in this year’s preseason coaches’ poll.
Sara Martin of Strong (Mt. Abram) provides an anchor at shortstop. In 32 starts as a sophomore, Martin belted out 29 hits, fourth on the team. She batted .261 with 11 RBIs.
“Our infield remains intact from last season, and that is always a plus,” coach Bob Leib said in his preseason prospectus.
“We have two very good players up the middle.”
Manufacturing a much-needed win
Wentworth Institute of Technology went winless on its southern swing to start the baseball season, but the Boston school notched a win upon returning to its backyard with a big assist from a former Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School standout.
Third baseman Brent Grenier went 1-for-3 in Wentworth’s battle last Thursday with neighboring Eastern Nazarene College of Quincy.
And the junior picked a perfect time for that lone single, putting himself on base during the winning rally as the Leopards scratched out a run in the bottom of the seventh inning for a 2-1 triumph over the Crusaders.
Grenier started 18 games as a sophomore.
He scored 10 runs while knocking in nine and stealing four bases.
Husky hurlers
Josh Armandi of Jay and Dustin Gilbert of Turner (Leavitt) pitched the University of Southern Maine to a 9-6 victory over Johnson & Wales in its baseball opener last weekend.
Armandi, a junior, tossed six innings of five-hit ball, striking out five. Gilbert launched his sophomore campaign with one spotless inning of relief.
Jordan Yanni, a junior catcher from Gray, also is on the Huskies’ roster. USM was picked No. 1 by Little East Conference coaches in their spring speculations.
Armandi was 5-2 with a 4.91 ERA last season.
Southern Maine’s softball season opens this weekend with another highly-touted Jay product, freshman pitcher and outfielder Bre Loon, in its camp. Sophomore utility infielder Dawn Ross of Gray returns after delivering nine RBIs in 41 starts last season, while Meghan Ford of Mechanic Falls (Poland Regional) also hopes to chip in as a freshman outfielder.
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