GORHAM — Technically, Carson Black isn’t the University of Southern Maine baseball team’s closer. He did help lock down one of the biggest pieces to the Huskies’ lineup this season, though.

When Black heard his old Sacopee Valley High teammate, Caleb Vacchiano, was in the transfer portal and leaving the University of Maine baseball program, Black made the pitch to his friend to enroll at USM.

Think of the tradition at USM, with its two national championships, Black said while sitting around a fire one summer night. Think of being a part of bringing the Huskies back to national prominence. Heck, think of the less expensive in-state tuition.

“(Black) said they’re a bunch of idiots over here, having fun and playing ball. That’s kind of how he sold it,” Vacchiano said. “That’s how it’s been, and that’s how I wanted it to be. Just having fun playing the game … He’s definitely part of the reason I transferred here this year, to team back up with him. He’s been one of my best friends.”

Vacchiano enrolled at USM and quickly became one of the key players in the Huskies’ lineup. He hit a grand slam and drove in six runs in the Little East Conference championship game against Keene State and was voted the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. This season, Vacchiano is hitting .297 with five home runs and 52 RBI. Black, meanwhile, has been one of the team’s top pitchers all season and earned the win in the conference title game. He enters the NCAA playoffs with a 7-1 record and a 3.54 earned-run average.

USM carries a 30-10 record into a game Friday at Bowdoin’s Pickard Field against Babson. No matter what happens, this is USM’s best season in five years. The Sacopee Valley duo are right in the middle of the team’s success.

Baseball is a big sport at Sacopee Valley, the little school in Hiram of 281 students not far from the New Hampshire border. The Hawks are routinely among the contenders in Class C South. When Black was a senior in 2023, Sacopee Valley reached the regional final. In 2024, when Vacchiano was a senior and the winner of the Dr. John Winkin Award as Maine’s top player in the graduating class, the Hawks won the state crown.

“Sacopee has always had a super deep baseball culture, and our coaches help us try to embrace that the entire time we were there,” Black said. “Everyone on the team is there to win.”

Jamie Stacey coached both Black and Vacchiano at Sacopee Valley. He saw their collegiate success coming when he was writing their names in his lineup game after game. During April vacation week this year, Stacey took his team over to Plymouth State in New Hampshire to watch their alumni play. Black got the win in a 23-5 USM victory. Vacchiano drove in a run and scored two. Stacey’s players watched as if they were watching major leaguers, he said.

“They’re both good because of the time they put into it,” Stacey said. “Some coaches don’t get a chance to coach one player like that, and I got two.”

Prior to taking over as USM’s head coach, Scott Heath was at Maine and was involved in the recruiting of Vacchiano to the Black Bears. He didn’t need to be convinced by Black or even his own brother, Kyle, who coached at Sacopee Valley before joining Scott’s staff at USM, that Vacchiano would be a great addition to the Huskies.

Black was already a perfect fit. Heath saw the righty shave two and a half runs off his earned-run average this season. Whatever the situation is, he can rely on Black to get outs, Heath said. He wants the ball in those moments, and Heath is happy to give it to him.

“You’ve got to be more smart on your pitch placement, which pitches you throw when. I’ve relied more on pitching to contact rather than rely on strikeouts, because it keeps me in games longer,” Black said.

For Vacchiano, the decision to transfer from Division I Maine came down to wanting to be somewhere he could get into the lineup every day. Playing second base, a new position, wasn’t a big deal.

Vacchiano and Black were rivals in youth baseball and with their travel teams. Coming together for success at Sacopee Valley helped forge a friendship. The summer wiffle ball games are epic.

“His stuff is nasty with a baseball. You should see him with a wiffleball,” Vacchiano said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if we get a game or two going this summer.”

First, there’s a an NCAA tournament to play. After wiffleball this summer, they can’t talk about it around the fire.