CHATHAM, Mass. – On Saturday afternoon, University of Maine baseball assistant coach John Schiffner and UMaine baseball great Mark Sweeney '91 were inducted into the Cape Cod Baseball League Hall of Fame. The ceremony took place at Chatham Bars Inn, as the two Black Bears were among the six honored at the event, with the class of 2018 also including Arthur "Ace" Adams, Barbara Ellsworth, Peter Gammons and Craig Hansen.
 
Schiffner, the winningest manager in Cape Cod League history, coached the Chatham A's/Angers for 25 seasons. His  teams won two CCBL championships, six east division titles, made 16 playoff appearances and won 541 regular season games as the Chatham skipper. He was honored with the Mike Curran Manager of the Year Award twice during his tenure.
 
"This is the greatest reward that I'll receive as a baseball coach," Schiffner said in his acceptance speech.
 
Schiff coacherd 39 first round draft picks and more than 125 of his former players have reached the major leagues, including Evan Longoria, Andrew Miller, Kris Bryant and Todd Frazier. Maine Baseball Head Coach Nick Derba can also count himself among Schiffner's former players.
 
Mark Sweeney served as co-captain of the 1991 baseball team that won a school record 48 games and advanced to the NCAA Northeast Regional final. He still holds several Black Bear career hitting records, including hits (328), doubles (66), home runs (52) RBIs (211), total bases (568), slugging percentage (.663). He earned All-America honors in. 1988, 1990. And 1991. He was inducted to the Maine Sports Hall of Fame in 1996.
 
Originally  drafted in the by Dodgers in 1990, Sweeney decided returned to UMaine and was later drafted by the California Angels in the ninth round of the 1991 MLB draft. Over the course of his 14-year MLB career, he played for the St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds, Milwaukee Brewers, Colorado Rockies, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers. He ranks second all-time in MLB history with 175 career pinch hits. Sweeney led the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox to back-to-back titles in 1989 and 1990, earning Cape Cod Playoff MVP honors in 1989.
 
-UMaine-