The 2022 University of Maine Sports Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will take place on Friday, Oct. 21 at Jeff's Catering in Brewer. To read about the full 2022 Induction Class, please click here. The 2022 Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be live streamed at www.YouTube.com/UMBlackBears/live.

Orono, Maine -- In every successful Division I athletic program, there is a team whose success breaks new ground and helps establish a higher standard for the future.

For University of Maine softball, that breakthrough team was the 1994 squad coached by Janet Anderson.

The Black Bears made history, winning their first North Atlantic Conference championship while becoming the first women's team in school history to earn a spot in the NCAA Division I tournament. Those accomplishments cemented their place in the UMaine Sports Hall of Fame.

UMaine flourished behind a senior-laden group spearheaded by the dominating pitching and potent hitting of senior Deb Smith, a future UMaine Hall of Fame pick. With a star-studded cast that included five other All-NAC choices, the Black Bears posted a 32-19 record that set a program single-season mark for victories.

And UMaine had to go the extra mile to secure an NCAA tournament berth. First, Smith pitched the Black Bears to three victories on the final day of the NAC tournament to propel them to the league title.

With no automatic berth available to the league, UMaine was forced to go on the road for a best-of-three play-in series against Robert Morris. The Black Bears prevailed, winning the first two games by 2-1 scores, to earn a trip to Northridge, California.

There, the team was paired against third-ranked regional host Cal State-Northridge, which won the opening game 8-0. No. 10 Washington eliminated UMaine 10-0 in the losers' bracket.

The memorable campaign came after a 1993 season during which UMaine won 17 of its last 22 games and reached the NAC title game. The momentum continued behind a nucleus consisting of Smith, senior right fielder/designated hitter and team captain Lisa Swain, and junior shortstop Kris Gorman. All three earned All-NAC first-team honors in 1994.

The Black Bears also relied heavily on the talents of three other all-conference second-team selections in freshman first baseman/catcher Shelly Lefevre, junior pitcher Cindy Harrington and sophomore catcher Kelly Dow, along with senior second baseman Angela Gamache.

Other letterwinners included senior third baseman Kristin Steele, Nicole Bourget, Nancy Deshane, April Lyons, Katie Gamache, Mary Persson, Kelly Harrington, Samantha Hodson and Sandra Smith. Former Black Bears pitching star Lynn Hearty Coutts was an assistant coach for the ballclub.

Smith set the tone in the circle and at the plate. She posted a 19-8 pitching mark and batted a team-best .399 with four home runs and 26 runs batted in. For those efforts, she was chosen the NAC's Co-Player of the Year and Co-Pitcher of the Year.

Swain hit .347 with a homer and 19 RBIs, while Steele posted a .336 mark and knocked in 21 runs. Lefevre (.321, 2HR, 16 RBIs) and Gorman (.301, 1 HR, 30 RBIs) were other catalysts.

In May 1999, at the end of her 21-year softball coaching career at UMaine, Anderson reflected on the NCAA appearance with great fondness.

"We were looking at the NCAA banner from the field," Anderson told the Bangor Daily News. "We were looking out at all that other stuff. They were getting the field ready for us to play. I had tears in my eyes."

The success of the 1994 team helped spark a new era for UMaine softball. The Black Bears soon would move from Lengyel Field on the south end of campus to a new facility, Kessock Field, located across campus near Memorial Gym and the field house.

UMaine softball had finally arrived.