After having a prodigious season in 2023 in which he was named a third team All-American, America East Player of the Year and District 1 Player of the Year, University of Maine first baseman Jeremiah Jenkins knew there would be pressure on him to duplicate that this year.
As a result, he struggled at the plate early in the season.
But after hitting just .238 over his first six games, he has hit .329 ever since and will take a six-game hitting streak into this weekend’s home three-game America East series with the New Jersey Institute of Technology.
He has hit .310 during the streak with three homers and nine runs batted in.
“I’m not going to lie. I started out the season a little bit nervous,” said Jenkins, who hit .365 with 21 homers and 76 runs batted in last spring in powering the Black Bears to their first NCAA Tournament berth in 12 years. “I was trying to do too much.
“As the season went along, I learned to just settle down. I realized I don’t have to try to be Superman out there,” said Jenkins. “It’s all about me trying to do my job and help the guys win.
The rest will take care of itself.”
UMaine head coach Nick Derba sees a lot of potential in Jenkins.
“I expect him to continue to grow. I think he can do better but that’s me setting a bar (high) that is very hard to get to,” said Derba. “All I want him to do is have good at-bats. That’s the most important thing. If he does that, he will continue to be a special player. He will be a professional hitter before he begins playing pro ball.”
Jenkins said Derba was “absolutely right” in his assessment.
“That’s the biggest thing I need to do. Proper pitch selection. Relaxing. Having good at-bats. Earning walks and swinging at the pitches I need to,” said Jenkins. “That’s something I need to be more consistent with. It’s something I definitely need to work on.
“Every at-bat can’t be a home run. It would be great if it was but that’s not how the game works,” he said.
He is currently hitting .308 with 11 homers and 24 runs-batted in. He leads the team in hits (28), homers, RBIs, slugging percentage (.714), walks (21) and OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) at 1.152. He is second on the team in runs scored (19), batting average and on-base percentage (.438).
“He just rakes the ball. He hits and hits,” said junior second baseman Myles Sargent.
Jenkins said he doesn’t mind taking walks “because I know the guys behind me in the batting order are going to come through. I believe in those guys.”
Jenkins is getting pitched to differently this season.
He said he is seeing a lot of off-speed pitches and most of the fastballs are on the outside part of the plate.
“Going to the opposite field is going to be important for me this year,” said the big left handed-hitting slugger, who belted an opposite-field two-run homer to left on Tuesday in a 14-4 non-conference win over the University of Maine at Farmington.
“I know I’m not going to get pitches on the inside corner. If I do, they’re going to be in on my hands. So I have to be okay with going to the opposite field (on outside pitches) and earning walks,” said the 6-foot-4, 238-pound native of Upper Marlboro, Maryland.
Jenkins played summer baseball for the Sanford Mainers of the New England Collegiate Baseball League a year ago and hit just .198 with five homers and 20 RBIs.
“It wasn’t a good summer at all,” said Jenkins. “I was stressing and trying to do too much.
“It was a learning curve for me. I realized that baseball isn’t always going to be sunshine and rainbows,” he said. “You’re going to have some ups and downs.You have to be able to deal with that kind of stuff and move on. I thought I had to do way more than I (actually) had to. You have to take what the game gives you.”
The Black Bears are off to a slow start with a 6-18 overall record and a 2-4 mark in conference play.
The defending America East champs, who made their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2011, have lost first team All-America East first team pitcher Colin Fitzgerald, 2022 All-Rookie team pitcher Caleb Leys and all-conference first team designated hitter Connor Goodman to season-ending injuries.
Fitzgerald (hip) and Leys (arm) had surgery in the off-season while Goodman hurt his knee in an 11-4 non-conference win over Husson University of Bangor on March 27.
And two of their offensive catalysts, Quinn McDaniel and Jake Rainess, didn’t return because McDaniel was drafted by the San Francisco Giants and signed with them and Rainess transferred to Houston.
The two All-America East first teamers combined to hit 32 homers, drive in 92 runs, steal 70 bases and score 150 runs a year ago.
“It has been rough but we’ve got to stick together as a team. Everyone has to do their part,” said Jenkins. “We aren’t going to be a long-ball threat type of team this year so it’s about playing fundamental baseball and if we do that, we’ll be fine.
“We all want to win and we will win as long as we play our game and believe in ourselves. We can’t let doubt creep into our clubhouse. That’s when everything goes downhill,” he said.
