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Baseball Finishes Season at NCAA Chapel Hill Regional
June 21, 2006
Complete Release in PDF Format
The University of Maine baseball team dropped a pair of games in the Chapel Hill Regional of the NCAA Tournament. Maine, which won its second America East Championship in a row, finishes the season 35-22-1 overall. A LOOK BACK: Maine dropped a pair of games in the NCAA Tournament. The Black Bears opened by facing host North Carolina. Maine held leads of 4-1 and 6-4 in the game, but in the end, could not hold on for the victory. The Black Bear hitters, however, proved that they could hit anyone, forcing North Carolina starter Robert Woodard, who was an ACC Second Team selection, from the game after 4.1 innings. Kevin McAvoy (Brewer, Maine) led the Maine attack as he went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and four RBI. McAvoy recorded his first two-home run game of his career. Mark Ostrander (Hopkinton, Mass.) also went deep for the Black Bears, while Joe Hough (West Roxbury, Mass.) and Matt McGraw (Burlington, Ontario) each also had a pair of hits. Rookie Mike Powers (Portland, Maine) got the start for Maine on the mound and pitched well. He scattered six hits over 5.1 innings while fanning four. ?The next day, Maine jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning against UNC-Wilmington. UNC Wilmington answered back with five runs in the top of the second inning. The Black Bears were able to build their lead to 10-5 after three innings, but Maine was unable to hold on. The Seahawks had a 21-14 lead after eight and a half innings, but Maine refused to give up. The Black Bears scored five runs in the bottom of the ninth inning, but saw their comeback fall just short, falling to UNC Wilmington 21-19. Curt Smith (Willemstad, Curacao) was 5-for-6 in the game with a run scored and five RBI. McAvoy was 3-for-6 with a two runs scored and four RBI. He belted his third home run of the Regional in the game. Joe Hough and Sean Parker (Worcester, Mass.), who hit his first home run of the season in the game, also had three hits. Hough, McGraw and Parker all drove in three runs in the game. MCAVOY NAMED FRESHMAN ALL-AMERICAN: Rookie Kevin McAvoy was named a Collegiate Baseball Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American. He becomes the ninth Black Bear to earn Freshman All-American honors and the seventh in the past eight years. McAvoy, who was also named the 2006 America East Rookie of the Year, batted .369 with 39 runs scored and a team-best 64 RBI. He had 12 doubles, one triple and led the team in home runs with 10. McAvoy had a .591 slugging percentage. BACK-TO-BACK CHAMPIONSHIPS: The University of Maine baseball team won back-to-back America East Championships and has won three championships in the past five years. Maine is the first team to win back-to-back America East titles since Delaware captured four straight titles from 1998 - 2001. It is the first time that Maine has won back-to-back North Atlantic/America East titles since the 1990 and 1991 seasons. MAINE AND THE NCAA REGIONAL: The Black Bears made their 15th appearance in an NCAA Regional in 2006. Maine played in the Oxford Regional of the 2005 NCAA Tournament. The Black Bears fell to host Ole Miss the first night, but then defeated Southern Miss 12-2 the following day for their first NCAA Tournament win since the 1991 season. Maine has a record of 29-16 all-time in NCAA Regionals. A DRAMATIC COMEBACK: Maine faced Stony Brook in the America East Championship game with the Seawolves trying to force a seventh and deciding game of the tournament. Locked in a pitchers duel, Stony Brook struck first with a run in the bottom of the seventh inning. The Seawolves added a run in the bottom of the eighth and the Black Bears trailed 2-0 with just one chance left. Maine took advantage of that one opportunity. The Black Bears recorded five straight hits to start the ninth inning and scored five runs to stun Stony Brook and win their second consecutive America East Championship in dramatic fashion. MAINE IN THE NCAAs: The University of Maine has a long history of competing in NCAA Championships. Every year since 1986, at least one team from Maine has advanced to the NCAA Tournament which is a streak of 21 straight seasons. Baseball has advanced seven times, men's ice hockey 16 times, women's basketball seven times, softball twice and football twice. In 2002 Maine had three teams advance in football, baseball and men's ice hockey, while in 2004 softball, women's basketball and men's ice hockey advanced. SCOUTING THE BLACK BEARS: Maine was led by Curt Smith who batted .390 with 56 runs scored and 55 RBI. He had 18 doubles, six triples, five home runs, a .592 slugging percentage and 19 stolen bases. Rookie Kevin McAvoy had a .369 batting average with 39 runs scored and 64 RBI. He had 12 doubles, a triple, 10 home runs and a .591 slugging percentage. His RBI and home runs both led the team. Joel Barrett (Brewer, Maine) hit .368 with 57 runs scored and 50 RBI. He had 19 doubles, three triples and five home runs to go along with a .995 fielding percentage. Joe Hough had a .341 batting average with a team-high 62 runs scored and 37 RBI. He has 12 doubles, three triples, eight home runs and a team-high 26 stolen bases. Matt McGraw hit .333 with 55 runs scored and 39 RBI. He had 12 doubles, two triples and five home runs along with 17 stolen bases. Mark Ostrander had a .333 average with 21 runs scored and 11 RBI. Ryan Quintal (Manchester, N.H.) batted .322 with 49 runs scored and 60 RBI. He had 11 doubles, five triples and nine home runs. Danny Menendez (Miami, Fla.) had a .297 batting average with 33 runs scored and 29 RBI, while Billy Cather (Worcester, Mass.) is hitting .272 with 24 runs scored, 10 RBI with 12 stolen bases. Sean Parker batted .263 with 28 runs scored and 27 RBI. ?Scott Robinson (Ajax, Ontario) was 8-3 on the season with a 5.83 ERA. He led the team in both innings pitched with 80.1 and in strikeouts with 68. Robinson also had four saves. Troy Martin (Dover, N.H.) was 7-4 with a 6.58 ERA. Mike Powers was 5-4 on the season with a 4.64 ERA. He was tied for the team-lead with 10 starts as a rookie. Nolan Boike (Arlington, Mass.) was 4-2 on the season with a 4.50 ERA. Jason Weymouth (Charleston, Maine) was 3-0 on the season with a 5.13 ERA, while Jose Mendoza (Miami, Fla.) was 3-2 with a 5.73 ERA. A.J. Balsinde (Miami, Fla.) was 1-3 with a 5.36 ERA. He has four saves on the season for Maine. Josh Zyskowski (Grand Rapids, Mich) was 2-1 on the season with a 4.96 ERA. He fanned 42 batters on the season which ranked second on the team. ALL-REGIONAL HONORS: Kevin McAvoy and Curt Smith were both named to the Chapel Hill All-Regional Team. McAvoy hit three home runs and drove in eight runs in the two games. Smith was 6-for-10 in the tournament with two runs scored and six RBI. It is the second year in a row that Smith was named to an All-Regional team.
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