enlarge University of Maine photo

Ashley Waters, a junior, leads America East in three offensive categories: home runs (10), hits (55) and total bases (98).

enlarge University of Maine photo

Thanks in large part to the hitting of Ashley Waters, Maine has rebounded from a 0-28 start and can clinch a spot in the America East softball playoffs by winning two of its last three games.

UMAINE SOFTBALL

WHO: UMaine (11-36, 10-8 America East) vs. Maryland-Baltimore County (21-27, 9-9)

WHEN: Noon doubleheader Saturday; 11 a.m. Sunday

WHERE: Orono

AT STAKE: With two wins, Maine will earn a spot in the America East playoffs.

ORONO — From shortstop comes a deep, encouraging cheer for a teammate at bat: "C'mon 3-2. C'mon 3-2."

The voice belongs to Ashley Waters. The scene is the softball diamond at the University of Maine.

An energy radiates around the field during practice, and more chatter picks up. There is reason.

This team that started the season 0-28 (all nonconference losses) is two wins away from clinching a berth in the America East playoffs.

With her leadership and her bat, Waters has been a key factor in the team's resurgence.

Waters has a .350 batting average and a .624 slugging percentage, and leads the conference in hits (55), home runs (10) and total bases (98).

Maine (11-36, 10-8 America East) needs to win two of its three games against Maryland-Baltimore County (21-27, 9-9) in Orono this weekend to earn a playoff berth. It's a perfect position to be in, said Waters.

"I'm a pressure player. I love it. I live for it," said Waters, a junior who bats third. "It's the best part of the game. If it was easy everyone would do it."

Waters' season is more striking considering what's she's gone through in the last nine months.

Last August, Waters contemplated leaving the program. She had been stripped of her captaincy and suspended for two games after fallout over a hazing incident that surfaced via photos on the Internet of a team "rookie party" in 2006, her freshman season.

She was among the hazing victims, and she believed she was being unfairly punished.

The disciplinary action stood, but Waters decided to return, citing her love of the school and a desire to put the incident behind her.

"I'm amazed by her courage," said Jacqui Waters, Ashley's mother and a 20-year high school assistant coach in Amesbury, Mass. "I keep thinking all through this whole thing, sooner or later she'd break. She stood by what she believed. ... She was able to move forward."

After serving her suspension at a fall tournament in North Carolina, Waters got eight hits in her first 10 at-bats.

"She left no room for error that she was going to make an impact this season," said Maine Coach Stacey Sullivan. "She made that very apparent from the first moment she took the bat in her hands."

Waters prefers to keep the situation behind her now, saying simply: "We've moved on. Honestly. In our eyes it's something that never happened."

Waters was renamed a captain in the fall along with Courtney Gingrich, who was also suspended despite being a freshman at the rookie party, and sophomore pitcher Alexis Souhlaris. When spring began, the trio set out to guide the team into the postseason. Maine did not qualify for the America East playoffs in 2007.

It was clear it would be a difficult goal. There are no seniors on the roster, and the team played a daunting early season schedule that included Hawaii, Texas Tech and North Carolina.

The losses piled up, yet Sullivan sensed something from her team.

"At (0-28) we're looking at these kids thinking, where is this character coming from?" said Sullivan. "We've had exceptional team chemistry. Exceptional.

"I think a lot stems from the kids in leadership positions, including Ashley. We knew the schedule was tough. We did it for a reason: to get this young team the experience they needed."

Maine opened its America East schedule by taking 2 of 3 from Stony Brook and sweeping three games from Binghamton.

"When you lose that much it's almost like you get used to losing," said Waters. "We were trying to find that point of 'It's not OK. We're better than this.' We finally did. That weekend (against Stony Brook) our confidence probably went from an all-time low to an all-time high."

Since then, Maine has won series against Vermont (2-1) and Hartford (2-1), and lost series to Albany (0-3) and Boston University (1-2).

Waters has been a slugger since her high school days, when...