Myles Sargent has been a steady fixture in the University of Maine’s baseball lineup for three seasons after playing in 17 games as a freshman.
The senior second baseman is having his best season yet this year and is hoping to extend his career this week by leading his Black Bears to an America East tournament title.
It will be a tall order because a late-season collapse saw the Black Bears fall from a top two seed and a first-round bye to a fourth seed that has to beat No. 5 Albany on Wednesday at 1 p.m. at Mahaney Diamond to move on to the four-team double-elimination tourney on Thursday.
Six teams qualify and the first round entails a single-elimination format pitting the No. 3 team (Binghamton) against the No. 6 seed (University of Maryland Baltimore County) and the Nos. 4 and 5 seeds against each other on Wednesday while top seed Bryant (1st) and second seed the New Jersey Institute of Technology earned byes and won’t play until Thursday.
Sargent said the Black Bears are ready to go.
“We’ve faced a lot of adversity this year and I feel we’re really prepared,” said Sargent. “We’re battle-tested.”
The Greenland, N.H. native has set career highs in every offensive category this season.
That includes homers (7), runs-batted in (40), doubles (12), hits (54), runs scored (25), slugging percentage (.553) and total bases (89). He is hitting .335. He leads the team in RBIs and slugging percentage and is tied for first in homers.
“We haven’t played our best baseball yet this season and we think that’s coming this week,” he added.
He will enter the tourney as a career .303 hitter over 138 games.
“I don’t feel I’ve gotten to my highest potential in baseball yet,” said Sargent. “But, each year, I’ve learned more about myself. I’ve never stopped learning and adapting and that has helped me take a step each year and develop more.”
He added that it “feels good to see the hard work paying off.”
He was having an impressive season a year ago when he fractured his hand. He was hitting .324 at the time. He wound up playing in 30 of UMaine’s 49 games.
An ankle injury sidelined him for four games this season but he said the ankle feels much better.
“He has been a staple for four years,” said UMaine head coach Nick Derba. “He is a great defender. He can turn the double play better than a lot of players who play at a very high level [in the minor leagues].”
Sargent, who was chosen to the All-America East second team, has made only four errors on 182 chances this season.
Derba also said Sargent has really developed as a hitter over his four seasons and he is very coachable and a hard worker.
Sargent called his time in Orono the best four years of his life so far.
“I’ve been through a lot of highs and lows. I’ve failed a ton but I learned from it and that’s how I’ve gotten better,” Sargent said. “My whole experience has really prepared me for this final push to win the conference.”
