User:Kithira/Sandbox/Maine Black Bears baseball

The Maine Black Bears baseball team is the varsity intercollegiate baseball program of the University of Maine, located in Orono, Maine. It is the university's oldest athletic program, having begun play in 1881. It has been a member of the NCAA Division I America East Conference since its founding (as the North Atlantic Conference) at the start of the 1990 season. Its home venue is Mahaney Diamond, located on the university's campus. Steve Trimper has been the program's head coach since the start of the 2006 season. As of the end of the 2013 season, the program has appeared in 16 NCAA Tournaments and seven College World Series. In conference postseason play, it has won eight ECAC Tournaments and five America East Tournaments. In conference regular season play, it has won five America East titles (three of those when the league was known as the North Atlantic Conference). 19 former Black Bears have appeared in Major League Baseball.

Early history
The University of Maine opened in fall 1868 as the Maine College of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts. The baseball program, founded in 1881, was the school's first intercollegiate athletic program. It went 3-3 in its first season. The program continued to play a handful of games each season during the 1880s; during this time, Irv Ray, Maine's first alumnus to play in Major League Baseball, played for the program. It played its first 10-game schedule in 1886 and won 10 games for the first time in 1888. The university did not sponsor a baseball team in 1892, but the team resumed in 1893.

From the program's inception through the 1893 season, student coaches coached the team. For the 1894 season, the school hired Harry Miller as its first faculty head coach. In two seasons under Miller (1894 and 1895), the team went 5-7 and 8-4, respectively. Jack Abbott, the program's second head coach, led the team to a 5-4 record in 1896. Under W. W. Bustard, Maine had consecutive 9-4 seasons in 1897 and 1898. The university changed its name from the Maine College of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts to its current name following the 1897 season.



Through the end of the 1923 season, Maine competed as an independent school. During this time, its highest single-season win total was 11, a mark reached three times (twice under head coach William Magill). Eight future major leaguers played for the program: Clarence Blethen, Harvey Cushman, Michael Driscoll, Pat French, Otis Lawry, Marty McHale, Ralph Pond, and Harland Rowe.

The longest-tenured head coach of the period was former Philadelphia Athletics player Monte Cross, who coached the team for six seasons (1916–1921) and had an overall record of 33-33-3. An April 1916 Lewiston Daily Sun article said of Cross, "His easy-going, but nevertheless strict instructions and discipline, together with the knowledge of the inside features of the National game, and the manner in which he teaches them, make an everlasting impression on the students, players, and managers." Following the 1919 season, Cross became the first Maine baseball coach to receive the "M" award from the university's president.

New England Conference
For the 1924 season, the New England Conference formed. In addition to Maine, the conference's founding members were Connecticut, Rhode Island State, New Hampshire, and Northeastern. The conference sponsored baseball from its founding. Maine was a member of the conference from 1924–1947, except in 1944, when the university did not sponsor a team due to World War II.

After Joseph Murphy coached the program for its first two seasons of New England Conference play (1924–1925), a total of two coaches led the team for the remainder of its time in the conference. Fred Brice was the program's head coach for 10 seasons (1926–1935), and William Kenyon held the position for 13 seasons (1936–1943, 1945–1949), the first 11 of which came in the New England Conference. Under Brice, Maine had a 67-60 record; its best single-season record during his tenure was 9-5 in 1932. For the previous season, 1931, the baseball team had moved to a location behind Memorial Gym after previously playing at Alumni Field. Under Kenyon in the New England Conference, Maine went 61-91-1. It went 11-7 in 1938 to tie the program record for wins and won Maine State Series championships in 1937 and 1942.

Conference membership

 * Independent (1881–1891, 1893–1923)
 * New England Conference (1924–1943, 1945–1947)
 * Yankee Conference (1948–1975)
 * Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (1976–1989)
 * America East Conference (1990–present)
 * Known as the North Atlantic Conference from 1990–1997

Early venues
The program played at several locations on Maine's campus in its early seasons. A 1931 Lewiston Daily Sun article reads, "The baseball diamond will be changed from Alumni field this year to a section directly behind Memorial gym. The first game on the new diamond will be with Colby on May 2."

Mahaney Diamond
The program currently plays at Mahaney Diamond, which opened in the early 1980s and is located on the northern end of the university's campus. It has a capacity of 4,400 spectators and is named for Maine alumnus and donor Larry Mahaney, who graduated from the university in 1951. The field has a FieldTurf surface, and the facility has been renovated many times since the mid 1980s.

It has hosted NCAA Regionals in 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, and 1991. It has also hosted three America East Conference Baseball Tournaments (1996, 2002, and 2004).

Head coaches
Since Harry Miller became the program's first record head coach for the 1894 season, Maine has had 24 head coaches. John Winkin, who was Maine's head coach from 1975–1996, is both the program's longest tenured and winningest head coach. He coached for 22 seasons and won 642 games.

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Current coaching staff
Maine's coaching staff for the 2013 season consisted of head coach Steve Trimper, assistant coach Jason Spaulding, assistant coach Billy Cather, and volunteer assistant coach Ryan Forrest.

Steve Trimper
Trimper, who was hired prior to the start of the 2006 season, played one season of college baseball at Elon before transferring to Eastern Connecticut State. There, he played three seasons of baseball, won a Division III national championship in 1990, and graduated in 1992. Prior to becoming Maine's head coach, Trimper was an assistant at Wentworth and Vermont, head coach of the NECBL's Eastern Tides, and head coach of Manhattan.

Assistant coaches
Spaulding, Maine's pitching coach and recruiting coordinator, played college baseball at Vermont while Trimper was an assistant there. He became a member of Maine's coaching staff for the start of the 2011 season and previously was an assistant at Manhattan. Cather played at Maine from 2005–2008 and later played independent professional baseball. He became an assistant prior to the start of the 2010 season. Forrest played at Maine from 2007–2009 and has been a volunteer assistant since the start of the 2012 season.

Yearly records
The program's first season came in 1881. Since then, the school has sponsored a team in each season except 1892 and 1944. Below is a table of the program's yearly records since its inception.

Notable players
The following is a list of notable former Black Bears and the seasons in which they played for the program, where available.

2011
Two Black Bears were selected in the 2011 Major League Baseball Draft: OF Taylor Lewis by the Pittsburgh Pirates (10th round) and P Keith Bilodeau by the San Francisco Giants (24th round). Both players signed professional contracts.

2012
Two Black Bears were selected in the 2012 Major League Baseball Draft: P Jeff Gibbs by the Arizona Diamondbacks (9th round) and P Steve Perakslis by the Chicago Cubs (21st round). Gibbs's 9th-round selection was the program's highest since Mike Collar was chosen in the 8th round in 2003. Both Gibbs and Perakslis signed professional contracts.

2013
Two Black Bears were selected in the 2013 Major League Baseball Draft, both in the 27th round: SS Michael Fransoso by the Pittsburgh Pirates and P Michael Connolly by the San Francisco Giants. Both players signed professional contracts.