Hall of Fame Profile: Dominating pitchers, leadership, camaraderie propelled 1976 UMaine baseball team into the record books
10/16/2026 1:57:00 PM | Baseball, Hall of Fame
ORONO, Maine -- The 1975 baseball season ended on a sour note for the University of Maine. Coach John Winkin's team came up one win shy of reaching the College World Series.
"We got so close that year before and I think that was a factor that really made us work harder," said John Dumont of Brunswick. "We were so determined to get back there again.''
The 1976 squad believed it had the talent, experience and motivation to take the next step.
"That really got us believing in what we could do," Skowhegan's Barry LaCasse said of the 1975 campaign.
Anchored by senior right-handed pitchers Bert Roberge of Auburn and Steve Conley of Portland, and a well-balanced lineup paced by Westbrook seniors Tony DiBiase of Westbrook and Jack Leggett of South Burlington, Vermont, UMaine thrust itself into the national conversation.
The Black Bears went 29-9 and claimed the Yankee Conference and ECAC crowns on the way to the NCAA Northeast Regional title, then won twice at the College World Series. Those feats have landed the '76 team in the UMaine Sports Hall of Fame.
"The group we had was very confident in our abilities," DiBiase said. "We had a lot of competition on the team and we were not intimidated."
Team members Roberge (1998), Leggett (1994), Ed Flaherty of Portland (1992) and Russ Quetti of Pittsfield, Massachusetts (2008) were previously inducted as individuals as was assistant coach Carl "Stump" Merrill, baseball and football star.
The Black Bears, whose .763 winning percentage has not been equaled, secured UMaine's first College World Series appearance since the 1964 Hall of Fame team.
"I think our camaraderie was different than many of the other teams that I was a part of," said Flaherty, a senior co-captain. "We had really good athletes, not just baseball players."
UMaine posted two, 10-game winning streaks, going 26-5 after a tough Florida trip that included Miami and Michigan State.
"You needed to play those big teams to get to that [CWS] level," Flaherty said. "It helped us."
The Black Bears featured considerable in-state talent, including the top four pitchers and five of the eight positional starters.
"For a team to go as far as we did with that many kids from Maine I think is pretty amazing. I'm proud of that," Dumont said.
Pitching was the cornerstone. The imposing staff featured the 6-foot-4 Roberge, who later spent six seasons in the major leagues with the Astros, White Sox and Expos.
The ace compiled a 9-2 record with a 2.06 earned run average and a team-best 60 strikeouts. He registered nine complete games in 11 starts and graduated as UMaine's leader with 21 career wins and nine single-season victories (tied).
The other starters were 6-4 sophomore righty Barry LaCasse of Skowhegan (7-1, 2.63, 7 GC) and the 6-7 Conley of Portland (7-2, 2.79, 6 CG), a draft pick of the San Diego Padres while at Deering High. Each earned a CWS win.
That trio accounted for 23 of the Bears' 29 victories and 73 percent of their total innings pitched.
"[Roberge] always pitched the first game of a doubleheader during the regular season and it was almost always a guaranteed win," DiBiase said. "Those guys were just awesome pitchers."
Key mound contributors included junior left-hander John Sawyer of Belgrade (2-2, 4.54), who picked up a win in the regional final, freshman Gary Smart of Windham (2-1, 2.25) and senior righty Bruce Justice of Topsham (2-0, 2.63).
The staff logged a stingy 2.89 combined ERA.
"We played some quality teams," Dumont said. "For those guys to have an ERA that low, that's quite an accomplishment."
The lineup included some of the most celebrated players in UMaine history. DiBiase, an All-Yankee Conference first baseman, led the club with a .339 batting average and a team-high five home runs, 34 runs batted in and 33 runs scored.
Co-captain Leggett and Dumont graduated as the program's career hits leaders (104). Leggett (.307, 3 HR, 16 RBI, 29 runs) played third base and was an All-YC selection.
Left fielder Dumont (1 HR, 25 RBI) owned a .311 average with a team-best 47 hits. Freshman second baseman Brian Butterfield, the son of former UMaine head coach Jack Butterfield, finished at .286 (1 HR, 12 RBI) with a team-high seven stolen bases.
Quetti, a slick-fielding sophomore shortstop (.273, 3 HR, 19 RBI, 5 SB) who reached AAA with the Red Sox, was a College World Series all-tournament choice. Other starters were junior center fielder Dana Dresser of Gorham (.240, 2 HR, 19 RBI), sophomore catcher-first baseman Billy Hughes (.231, 5 HR, 29 RBI) of Oneonta, New York, and Flaherty (.231, 2 HR, 16 RBI).
Also key contributors were sophomore OF Mike Curry of Concord, New Hampshire (.400, 2 HR, 18 RBI), freshman catcher Mark Armstrong of Millinocket (1 HR, 7 RBI) and junior OF Phil Skillings of South Portland (.348, 5 RBI).
The remaining team members who appeared in games were Bruce Justice of Topsham, Doug Carville of Orono, Wayne Fiegenbaum of Cape Elizabeth, Richie Pullen of Orono Dave Costa of Abington, Massachusetts and Fred Fasulo of Cape Elizabeth and Peter Laflamme of Brattleboro, Vermont.
To start the postseason, UMaine won seven consecutive games to procure ECAC and Northeast Regional titles. Leggett, Dumont and Flaherty all were ECAC all-tournament picks.
UMaine's starting pitcher went the distance in each of the games, two apiece by Roberge, Conley and LaCasse. The Black Bears clinched the Regional by beating Seton Hall, which had snuffed out their CWS hopes a year earlier.
UMaine arrived at the College World Series unfazed by the magnitude of the moment. Despite arm troubles experienced by Roberge, the Black Bears won twice in Omaha.
UMaine dropped a 3-2 decision in the opener against Eastern Michigan, but rebounded to edge Auburn 9-8. The Bears stayed alive by edging Washington State 6-3, but were eliminated 7-0 by Arizona State.
"It was motivating us to see the looks that we got from some of the other teams, so it gave us so much satisfaction to beat them," Dumont said.
"Not once out there did we ever feel intimidated," Flaherty said.
The players appreciate the coaching and guidance they received from Winkin and Merrill.
"We had good coaching and didn't make many mistakes," Flaherty said. "Wink just took the program to the next level."
Players also praised the upperclassmen for having a huge impact.
"We had tremendous senior leadership with Jack and Eddie and the other seniors, Tony [DiBiase] and John Dumont. They were winners," LaCasse said.
Team personnel later excelled professionally. Leggett, an American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Famer, was the successful longtime coach at Clemson. He ranks ninth in Division I coaching victories with 1,332.
Merrill worked 38 years in the Yankees organization, including two as New York's major-league manager (1990-91).
Flaherty coached 39 years at the University of Southern Maine, leading the Huskies to two Division III national championships.
Butterfield spent almost 40 years coaching in the pros, including stints with the Yankees, Diamondbacks, Blue Jays, Red Sox and Cubs.
DiBiase was a fixture on the Maine high school basketball and baseball scene, Dumont spent many years coaching baseball and football at Brunswick and Sawyer coached baseball at Narraguagus of Harrington.
