ORONO, Maine — Former University of Maine pitcher Stu Lacognata knows all about pressure situations.
He pitched his Portland High School Bulldogs past Bangor in the Class A state championship 8-0 in 1980 and went on to win 24 games and pitch in the College World Series for the Black Bears.
But he said he is “more nervous” than he ever was as a player watching his 16-year-old daughter Elizabeth Lacognata play lacrosse or golf.
Elizabeth Lacognata, who will be a junior at Scarborough High School in the fall, finished tied for 35th among 64 players in the Maine Women’s Amateur golf tournament at the Penobscot Valley Country Club in Orono Wednesday with a 275 after rounds of 92, 95 and 88.
“It’s nerve-wracking. There is nothing like watching your kid play a sport. It’s awesome. You’re proud. There’s a whole range of emotions,” said Stu Lacognata, who is a pilot for United Airlines.
“It’s cool being back up here. There are a lot of great memories,” said the 54-year-old Stu Lacognata, who was known for his slider and graduated from UMaine in 1984 after four College World Series appearances.
He said his daughter has the “athletic gene in the the family, not me.”
Stu Lacognata said the piece of advice he has given his daughter is to “not get too high when things are going well and don’t get too low when they aren’t. Keep an even keel. That makes all the difference in the world.”
“He tells me to practice as much as I can and keep pushing even if I’m having a bad round,” said Elizabeth Lacognata.
Elizabeth Lacognata can drive the ball a long way, but she said “it doesn’t mean anything because I need to work on my short game and pull it together.”
Stu Lacognata said his 20-year-old son, Alex, also wants to be involved in sports but in a sport he admits he knows nothing about: auto racing.
“He is going to the University of Northwestern Ohio for High Performance Motorsports. He wants to work in NASCAR,” said Stu Lacognata. “What is really cool is he is pursuing his passion. It’s awesome. I’m so proud of him. He has done it on his own.”
Lacognata was recently involved in a get-together for several of his former Black Bear teammates and said it was special.
“There is a camaraderie that you have when a play a team sport together in college. When you get back together, it’s like you never missed a beat. It has been over 30 years. That’s unbelievable. It doesn’t seem that long ago. We told some good stories. It was great,” he said.