A 6-10 record to start the season might not seem like much.
For the Maine East baseball team, however, it has been nothing short of cathartic after a two-win campaign in 2014.
“Last year, there would be games where we would go out there with a completely negative mentality, and by the second or third inning, things would be getting out of hand and we would basically roll over,” senior captain Lukas Parker said.
The Blue Demons have been far more competitive in 2015, even when they lose.
On Tuesday, April 21, Maine East lost 6-4 to Niles North after leading 4-3 in the top of the seventh. Two days later, the Blue Demons stranded 12 to 14 runners, by coach Ron Clark’s estimate, in a 7-0 loss to the Vikings.
Still, simply being in the game — and by hitting .282 as a team, they’re in it — is an improvement over last year.
“There have been lots of bright spots and then the small things that need to be worked on,” Parker said. “This year, by far, is probably the most fun I’ve had playing for Maine East.”
Parker and fellow senior captain Dylan Kuffell credit chemistry above all else. That’s a change from a few years back when, according to Kuffell, the Blue Demons’ chemistry was not at “an all-time high.”
“The environment in the dugout is fun,” Parker said. “Everyone’s getting along. Everyone’s cheering. If someone makes a mistake, the other players are going to pick you up.”
The program’s potential — and the importance of chemistry — is embodied in a pair of young pitchers who have tossed the third and fourth most innings on the team behind Kuffell and Parker.
Freshman Antoine Kelly, “the hardest thrower on the team,” according to Parker, has 22 strikeouts in 20 1/3 innings. But the reliever has walked 18 batters and is working on precision and a third pitch to complement his fastball and changeup.
Sophomore Ryan Sands has been terrific at the plate, batting an even .400, but has been up-and-down on the mound.
“He has really good stuff,” Clark said. “His battle at times has been his command. He’ll cruise for a while and then all of the sudden he’ll struggle and get behind hitters and that’s when he gets in trouble.”
That’s where chemistry can be so crucial. Parker, a catcher as well as pitcher, likes what he’s able to achieve by working with his pitchers.
“Instead of having the coach have to call time and go out to the rubber and talk to them, I can just call time and go over and go, ‘Hey, your swing with your shoulder, when you’re releasing, you’re releasing too much up front,’ ” Parker said. “I know what to look for while I’m catching.”
Chemistry, winning their first two games and winning three times as many games as last season have allowed the Blue Demons to dream.
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“Once [the small things] get patched up and once we all start performing at our full potential, we won’t be outmatched by a lot of teams,” Parker said.
Rosenblum is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.