Maine baseball returns to America East Tournament as No. 1 seed

ORONO, Maine (WABI) - Maine baseball finished the regular season with a Ryan Turenne walk-off grand slam.

“It kind of just all came together. I got to hit it out of the park, which is pretty cool. It’s something you dream about. It’s something that doesn’t seem real in the moment. Looking back on it now, it’s just something really cool and special I’m going to remember forever,” said Turenne, senior catcher.

The momentum is pushing Maine to its second-straight America East Tournament as the No. 1 seed.

“We know what we have to do to win. When we do those things, we just come together as one unit with pitching, defense, and hitting. I think that’s been our biggest thing. Even when we get down in a big deficit or are just losing the game, we know that we can still battle back if we stay together as a team. It’s just believing in each other, trusting in each other, and it’ll all come back together,” said Jeremiah Jenkins, sophomore first baseman/designated hitter.

Maine left last year’s bracket without a championship. The Black Bears explained how this year can be different.

“I think there’s a lot of fight and depth within our lineup. Our pitchers go out and do what they can to keep runs off the board. Our offense has been really dangerous one through nine,” said Quinn McDaniel, junior infielder.

“These are different guys one year later. Our bullpen will do well because our staff is going to get them into the seventh inning,” said Nick Derba, head coach.

Maine starts its America East Tournament run on Thursday at 11 a.m.

Maine is waiting for its opponent to be determined for Thursday’s game.

The tournament starts with two single-elimination games on Wednesday.

No. 4 Bryant will face No. 5 UMass Lowell, and then No. 3 Binghamton will take the field against No. 6 NJIT.

The Black Bears will be up against the lowest remaining seed to win either game.

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