BANGOR — After his sophomore year, Ben Greenberg wasn’t thinking about winning baseball awards. He was thinking he’d better improve. The Dr. John Winkin Award wasn’t on his radar.

“No shot,” Greenberg, a recent Scarborough High School graduate, said. “I had a really shaky sophomore year. I didn’t play well at all. I worked really hard the winter after that, just because I needed to. Having that off year helped me a lot. It helped me develop.”

On Friday, Greenberg was honored as the top high school baseball player in Maine, when he was named the winner of the Winkin Award prior to the Class A/B Senior All-Star Game at Husson University’s Winkin Complex.

The award is named after Dr. John Winkin, who coached Colby College, the University of Maine, and Husson over his long and successful career. Winkin was inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame last year.

“Mr. Winkin’s a great guy. I read about him a lot. He did a lot of great things over his career. It’s an honor to be given this award,” Greenberg said.

The Southern Maine Activities Association Player of the Year, Greenberg was one of the most dominant pitchers in the state this past season, going 5-2 with a 1.18 earned run average. Greenberg struck out 52 hitters in 41 2/3 innings, and opponents hit just .182 against him. At the plate, Greenberg hit .381 for the Red Storm.

“When he gets on the mound, it doesn’t matter who he’s facing, or if the team has beat him before. He expects to win,” Scarborough head coach Ryan Jones said. “That’s one of the intangibles with baseball. You can’t really teach the competitive edge, the grittiness, the win at all costs mentality.”

Jones was an assistant cosch at Scarborough during Greenberg’s sophomore year, and the first-year head coach noticed a big change when Greenberg joined the team as a junior.

“He hit a buck 90 (.190) his sophomore year, and he hit .415 his junior year. To see him at the end of his sophomore year and the beginning of his junior year, I couldn’t recognize the kid, just because of the commitment he had in the weight room,” Jones said.

Greenberg will continue his baseball career at Fordham University.

“I’m really excited. They’re building a great program down there. I think their program’s moving in the right direction and I’m excited to be a part of that,” Greenberg said.

Added Jones: “I’ve never seen anyone like him. He’s a great, well-rounded kid. He gets the job done academically, and we all know he gets the job done on the field.”

The other finalists for the Winkin Award included Devin Warren of Messalonskee, Dylan Belanger of Valley, Kyle Fletcher of Monmouth, Cody Collins of Bangor Christian, Anthony Haskell of Sacopee Valley, and Will D’Agistino of Falmouth.

Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242

tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @TLazarczykMTM