The University of Maine baseball pitching staff has definitely taken on a local flavor of late and another player from the Bangor area has verbally committed.
Junior right-hander Alex McKenney of Hampden Academy will join the program beginning in the fall of 2017.
Former Bangor High School star Justin Courtney, who just finished his sophomore season at Maine, will be joined by high school teammate Trevor DeLaite this fall, along with Brewer High School’s Matt Pushard and Valley of Bingham’s Cody Laweryson.
McKenney will be accompanied in his class by Bangor’s Peter Kemble.
“It’s definitely nice to play with a lot of local kids,” said McKenney. “Peter Kemble and I have been friends for a long time. I played with him in middle school.”
McKenney had scholarship offers from the University of Rhode Island and UMass Lowell but decided to stay local.
“I originally thought I’d go out of state,” said the 6-foot-3, 220-pound McKenney. “I always knew I wanted to play Division I baseball.
“But I visited Maine a couple of days ago, talked to the coaches and saw the facilities and everything so I made my mind up to stay and play at Maine,” said the 17-year-old McKenney, who added that he will get a partial athletic scholarship and partial academic scholarship.
McKenney missed his sophomore year because he had bone chips removed from his elbow.
But he returned to the mound this season and went 3-3 with a 2.50 earned run average for the Broncos. He struck out 42 and walked just 12 in 35 innings.
“His top asset is his work ethic,” said HA coach McLean Poulin. “You always see him at the field with his dad [Travis]. His work ethic is top notch.”
Travis McKenney formerly pitched for Piscataquis Community High in Guilford and for Bangor’s Husson University.
Poulin said McKenney has a live arm.
“He throws in the mid-to-upper 80s,” said Poulin. “His curve came around and he also has a nice little splitter.”
McKenney has played baseball year-round for the Portland-based Maine Lightning, where he has benefited from the coaching expertise of former UMaine ace Mike D’Andrea and Ryan Copp.
“That has been huge for me. Mike has been a huge influence on me and the way I look at a game,” said McKenney, who noted that his dad has been a major influence, too.
“My dad and I will go to the field and I’ll get 200 swings a night,” said McKenney, who hit .436 for the Broncos and drove in 13 runs. “He has just as much passion for the game as I do.”
McKenney played football last fall but said he won’t play this season to devote more time to baseball.
His coming to Maine is contingent upon him being accepted into the school and meeting NCAA eligibility requirements.