First-year starters provide spark for UMaine baseball team – Bangor Daily News

It has been a tough spring for the seniors on the University of Maine baseball team.

And with the upperclassmen having suffered through a collective slump, the team has of late relied heavily on its freshmen.

UMaine (7-22) snapped a 10-game losing streak Saturday with a doubleheader sweep of the New York Institute of Technology. The victories were spearheaded by the first-year players.

Freshmen Danny Casals, Colin Ridley and Jeremy Pena and sophomore Caleb Kerbs made key contributions at the plate.

“We’ve had some really good freshmen that started a lot for us over the years,” said coach Steve Trimper, who eyes more consistent production from seniors Kevin Stypulkowski (.275), Brett Chappell (.234) and Brenden Geary (.191) and junior transfer Tyler Schwanz (.262).

Their inconsistency has put more pressure on the youngsters in the lineup.

“We don’t need them to be front-line guys, but they just need to continue to do what they did [Saturday],” Trimper said.

Leading the way for Maine against NYIT was third baseman Casals of Miami who boosted his team-best batting average to .336. He also leads the squad in hits (37), runs scored (20), on-base percentage (.417) and stolen bases (6, tied with Geary).

Hitting in the leadoff spot, Casals went 9-for-15 (.600) against NYIT with two runs batted in and four runs scored.

“It’s great. We knew it would click at one point,” Casals said of an offense that is averaging only 3.3 runs and 7.7 hits per game.

Ridley likewise came up with some clutch hits for UMaine. The outfielder from Harwich, Massachusetts, belted a grand slam in Saturday’s 8-5 win in Game 1, then stroked a two-run single in a 4-1 victory in the second game.

Ridley is batting .300 and leads the Black Bears in home runs (4) and RBI (19).

“When I first got here, I was looking up to all the older guys and thinking they have a lot more experience,” said Ridley, who has realized he can make an impact.

“You’re here for a reason, you’re here to play,” he said, “so if you go out there and you do your thing and show them what you’ve got and it happens to work out, you’re in a good position to keep on playing.”

Pena and Kerbs have provided less consistent offense, but they have been outstanding defensively at shortstop and second base, respectively.

Pena (.227) was key batting behind Casals last weekend. He posted four hits and scored three runs, logging two bunt singles and a sacrifice bunt.

Kerbs (.240) had four hits in the series, and freshman pitcher Nick Silva worked three scoreless relief innings with five strikeouts in Saturday’s opener.

“They’re definitely crucial to our success,” senior pitcher Logan Fullmer said of the group.

“I think our talent is really in those younger guys,” Trimper said.

“[The upperclassmen] need to step up and just kind of play the baseball they’re capable of playing, [and] I think the team can just take off.”