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Smith Named America East Player of the Year
May 21, 2008
ORONO, Maine--Maine baseball standout Curt Smith (Willemstad, Curacao) added another honor to his impressive resume on Wednesday night when he was named the 2008 Len Harlow America East Player of the Year. He joins Mark Sweeney (1991) and Chad White (1993) as the two other players in Maine history who have been named NAC/America East Player of the Year. He also earned a spot on the America East First Team. In addition, catcher Myckie Lugbauer (Mahopac, N.Y.) was named to the America East First Team. Freshmen Jarrett Lukas (Old Town, Maine) and Kevin Scanlan (Sudbury, Mass.) were each named to the America East All-Rookie Team. Binghamton's Peter Bregartner was named the America East Rookie of the Year, while Vermont's Joe Serafin was named the America East Pitcher of the Year. UMBC's John Jancuska, who led the Retrievers to their first-ever America East playoff berth, was named the 2008 America East Coach of the Year. Smith, who started all 49 games, capped his outstanding career by hitting .403 for the Black Bears this season. He scored a team-high 60 runs and drove in 37. He hit 17 doubles and 11 home runs to go along with three triples. Smith had a .722 slugging percentage and a .498 on-base percentage. He finished second on the team in stolen bases with 12 and posted an impressive .995 fielding percentage at first base. Smith finished the season with 22 multi-hit games. He becomes the just the 15th player in Maine history to hit .403 or better in a season. He has the third highest batting average in a season with players having 175 at-bats or more. Smith led America East in batting average (.403), slugging percentage (.722), runs scored (60) and total bases (127), finished second in on-base percentage (.498), tied for second in hits (71) and home runs (11), third in walks (32) and tied for fifth in doubles (17). Smith is 28th in the nation in slugging percentage, 30th in runs per game, 42nd in on-base percentage, 48th in batting average and 66th in runs scored.
Smith left his mark on the Maine record books as well. He is Maine's all-time leader in triples with 19, ranks second in hits (300), third in doubles (60), and tied for third in RBI (178). Lugbauer, who was named the America East Rookie of the Year in 2007, earned a spot on the America East First Team as catcher. He hit .343 for the Black Bears with 36 runs scored and a team-best 43 RBI. He had 19 doubles, three shy of tying the Maine record for doubles in a season, and five home runs to go along with a pair of triples. Lugbauer had a .552 slugging percentage. Lugbauer, who saw action in all 49 games, opened the season with a 16-game hitting streak. Lugbauer finished second in America East in doubles (19), tied for sixth in RBI (43), seventh in batting average (.343), ninth in slugging percentage (.552) and tied for ninth in hits (62). He ranks 58th in the nation in double per game and 77th in total doubles. Lukas earned a spot on the America East All-Rookie Team. He saw action in 43 games for the Black Bears, starting 39. Lukas hit .319 on the season with 22 runs scored and 28 RBI. He hit eight doubles, four home runs and two triples. He was named the America East Rookie of the Week twice this season. Lukas had 13 multi-hit games and seven multi-RBI games. He had a 12-game hitting streak midway through the season. Scanlan was named to the America East All-Rookie Team. He started 11 games for the Black Bears on the mound, posting a record of 2-5 with a team-best 3.74 ERA. He struck out a team-best 72 batters in 67.1 innings pitched with two complete games. Scanlan was second in America East in strikeouts and fifth in ERA. His 9.63 strikeouts per nine innings ranks 66th in the nation. Scanlan pitched a complete game shutout in Maine's 6-0 win over Albany on April 11. In the game, he allowed just three hits while striking out a career-high 12 batters. -U-M- |
