White hot at the right time
Former Patriot, Post 151 standout stepping up for Maine
Nick White has picked a fine time to get red-hot.
The former North Middlesex Regional and American Legion Post 151 ballplayer has come on at the exact right moment for the University of Maine baseball team, putting together an outstanding pair of games for the top-seeded Black Bears in the America East tournament.
Since returning from a separated shoulder that kept him off the diamond for most of March and all of April, the junior has been producing at a notable rate.
A utility player who transferred to Orono from Northern Essex Community College, White has posted some strong numbers in his first season of Division 1 baseball. He’s batting .375 on the season with three home runs and 13 RBI in 21 games. White has also scored 15 runs and played flawlessly in the field, recording 33 putouts without an error.
But as the regular season came to a close and the conference tournament rolled around, White’s numbers have begun to rise. He’s been a critical cog in the Black Bear offense, which has landed Maine in the America East final after taking the first two contests in tournament.
The Black Bears (31-19, 19-5 AE) will vie for the conference crown Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. at Binghamton in Vestel, New York, against the winner of Friday’s late elimination game between No. 3 Binghamton and second-seeded UMBC. Should Maine fall in that tilt, it would have a second chance to claim the title in a winner-take-all second contest 45 minutes after the completion of the first.
In his last five games, White is 9-22 (.409) with two homers and four RBI. In Thursday’s 10-7 quarterfinal victory over Umass Lowell, White went 2-for-5 with a double and home run, driving in three and followed that up on Friday with a 1-for-4 showing at the plate against UMBC in the America East semifinals.
White had been solid through the early stages of the season, but missed nearly two months worth of games after a shoulder injury. But White returned on May 5 and has played in a dozen contests since then.
And many of his Division 1 season highs have come since that return. He notched a season-high four hits in a May 20 game against Bryant, and scored a season-high three runs in that contest. The left-hand hitting and right-hand throwing White set his high for the campaign in RBI in Thursday’s win over the River Hawks.
To those familiar with the 6-foot, 200-pound former Patriot, it shouldn’t be much of a surprise that he’s excelling. After starring on the diamond in Townsend and then with the American Legion Post 151 team in Leominster under Jeff Dedeian, White played two seasons of junior college ball at Northern Essex.
All White did during his time with the Knights is twice be named a National Junior College Athletic Association and help the team to a berth in the NJCAA World Series last spring. Having completed two years at the Haverhill school, White announced he head north to Orono to join the Black Bears.