The Maine Baseball Team was swept by UMass Lowell in the weekend series, losing on Sunday 5-4.

UMaine scored 3 runs in the 5th inning and 1 in the 6th inning to lead 4-1, but the Riverhawks scored 2 runs in the 7th and then pushed across the tying and winning runs in the 9th inning for the win.

Thomas Stabley started for Maine and went 6.1 innings on the mound. He allowed 5 hits and 3 runs, striking out and walking 1. Owen Wheeler pitched 1.2 hitless innings striking out 2. Sebastian Holt pitched the 9th and took the loss, allowing 2 hits and 2 runs, the big hit a 2-run homer to Nicholas Solozano, his 2nd of the day.

Hunter St. Denis homered for Maine, a solo shot, his 9th of the season, in the 6th inning.

Albert De La Rosa was 2-4. JuJu Stevens , Shane Andrus, Quinn Murphy and Chris Bear each singled.

UMass Lowell is 19-27 while Maine is now 17-30.

The Black Bears will host Merrimack on Tuesday, May 12th in a non-conference game at 2 p.m. The game will be broadcast on 92.9 The Ticket with the pregame starting at 1:30 p.m. Maine then closes out the regular season at home with a 3-game America East conference matchup with Albany Thursday- Saturday.

Check out photos from the game

It seems every season there’s a southern Maine pitcher or two headed to big-time college baseball.

Meet Hunter Finck, a Gorham High junior and the newest mound star.

Casual fans of Class A South baseball might be wondering, “Hunter who?” After all, Finck threw just one inning for the Rams as a sophomore because of shoulder tightness. It was his Gorham teammate, Wyatt Nadeau, now at Vanderbilt, who was getting the headlines.

But, “when you say Hunter, everyone around here knows who you’re talking about,” said Gorham coach Ed Smith.

For several reasons.

Finck, 17, has been a standout for several years, always playing up an age group or two at the local level. Since he was 15, he’s pitched for Atlanta-based Team Elite Baseball at premier national showcase tournaments. On Dec. 8, Finck, a powerfully built 6-foot-1, 205-pound right-hander, committed to Alabama, a rising program in the power-packed Southeastern Conference.

Throughout the 2025 summer, playing for both Team Elite and Portland-based Maine Lightning Baseball, Finck built his arm strength back up to where it had been in 2024, when his fastball first crossed the 90 mph threshold. But it wasn’t until early October when Finck was ready to show his true self.

In back-to-back tournaments in Florida with Team Elite’s top team, Finck impressed. On the second weekend, competing in the Perfect Game WWBA World Championship in Jupiter, Florida, his fastball was up to 93 mph, his curveball was sharp, and a developing changeup was effective.

“It really came to life for Hunter in the fall,” said Brooke Richards, Team Elite’s national high school director. Richards said the college recruiters who rightfully saw question marks around Finck because of his limited track record “were probably scrambling at the same time.”

Alabama coach Rob Vaughn and his staff made an early impression.

Two months later, Finck was touring Alabama’s campus in Tuscaloosa.

On the plane ride home, Finck said he knew he’d found the right spot, and he committed before the plane landed in New England.

Finck would be the first Mainer to pitch for Alabama, but recruiting pitchers from Maine is not new to Vaughn. As the head coach at Maryland (2018-23), Vaughn coached York’s Trevor Labonte for three seasons. Greely’s Zach Johnston originally committed to Maryland before opting to attend Wake Forest.

Finck said there were other schools from the Power 4 conferences (SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, ACC) that pursued him.

“I looked at all of them seriously. I thought all of them were great, but I just really wanted to go to Alabama, especially after I saw it,” he said. “I feel like they really wanted me. I have a very good relationship with all of their coaches, so that’s one of the main reasons.”

Advertisement