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After being
dormant for many years the CM baseball program
was resurrected in 1994. Our first recruiting
class brought us many solid individuals that
helped lay the ground work for the program. Some
came from Oxford Hills, Biddeford, and
Gray. They
all came with one thing in mind, playing
competitive college baseball. The team showed
its "road warrior" character by playing home
games in Augusta. The Mustangs traveled to all
comers of New England to play games. Mike
Brennan, Jamie Lobb, and Rick Ruel pioneered the
team to impressive wins over league powers
Vermont Tech. and New Hampshire Tech. That
first team actually qualified for post-season
play, but could not participate as a first year
program. That was the last time this would
happen to the team.
Our second year brought us
much success. We began playing our home games
here in Auburn. We continued to travel far and
wide to play our competitors, eager to test our
skills. Mike Brennan and new comer Dan Coleman
formed a very impressive double play combination
and a strong one two punch in the line-up. Rick
Ruel was the work horse of the pitching rotation
showing the way for the rest of the staff. We
finished in third place and made our first
post-season appearance. Although it was a short
appearance we gained valuable experience to
build on for the future. Mike Brennan was named
to the NNESCC. All-Conference team.
The 1996 season was a
season of great success for the program. The
team was lead by Dan Coleman, Jamie Lobb, Jason
Colbath and Jason Cwiklinski. Coleman lead the
league in hitting batting over .550 for the
season. Lobb was the top utility player of the
league playing 5 different positions. Jon Haley
stole over 20 bases and anchored the outfield
from his center field position. Jason Cwiklinski
and Jason Colbath each drove in over 15 runners.
Colbath lead the pitching rotation that saw the
emergence of Cwiklinski and his strong arm. The
1996 team finished in second place and hosted
its first play-off game, a victory over Concord.
The team came up short of its ultimate goal
losing out to Vermont Tech. in extra innings in
the NNESCC championship game. Coleman, Colbath,
and Cwiklinski all made All-Conference honors.
In our fourth season we
welcomed new comers Chad Dumais and Sam Groomes
to our line-up. We finished another strong
season that resulted in a play-off birth. Once
again Dan Coleman anchored the middle of the
infield and set the table for the batting order.
However, this season belonged to Jason
Cwiklinski. Cwiklinski re-wrote the record book
at CM with records in home runs, 10, and RBI's
27, while batting over .500 for the season. Each
game teams tried to adjust their game plans
around "Slinky" and each time Jason and his
teammates rose to the occasion. Cwiklinski and
Coleman were rated among the top three players
of the conference and each made All-Conference.
The 1998 season was a
building block year. We saw 6 new starters in
the line-up. However, the youth of this team was
not out-weighed by their talent. Sean Butler
came into the league as a premier pitcher that
dominated teams. The team finished with a team
batting average of .3 60. This 'young" team also
qualified for the play-offs with it's third
place finish. The team swept a double header
with rival SMTC to gain it's play-off spot. Chad
Dumais showed great leadership leading this
team. First year players Bruce Grover
and
Scott Roberge, set the tone for this scrappy
line-up. Sam Groomes steady play behind the
plate and at the plate earned him All-Conference
honors.
The turn of the century
marked a return of pride and tradition to
Central Maine. Alumni Dan Coleman returned to
manage the team. He brought with him the
winning edge! Under Coleman's management the
team has captured 4 NNESCC Championships, 1
runner-up NNESCC trophy and 1 NEBA
championship. Dan is as popular as a coach as
he was wearing the maroon and white as an
athlete. Fellow alum Jamie Lobb joined Dan in
-01 and brought much needed fire to the field.
Between the two, the Mustangs are as competitive
as any D-3 program in the state today. |
