Hall of Fame
A freshman would have a difficult time making a bigger impression than Steve Camara (Southeastern Massachusetts University '77) did to the Corsair baseball team in 1973. A year out of pitching at Fall River's Durfee High, Camara walked into Coach Bruce Wheeler's baseball program and posted a 6-0 mark in his first season. Camara continued to carry the load for the Corsairs throughout his four-year career, setting several pitching records, including one that stands out more than 32 years after his final game. Camara holds the UMass Dartmouth career record for shutouts with nine, while also holding second in both career strikeouts (220) and complete games (22) and is third in career starts (37). What isn't apparent in the record books was Camara's competitiveness. During an era when then SMU traveled throughout the region and beyond playing Division I and II schools, Camara's performance against the University of Maryland in 1976 stands out. After the Corsairs took an early 1-0 lead, only to go on to lose 18-1 in the first game of a doubleheader, it was left to Camara to salvage the day. He responded with a one-hit shutout (the hit deflected off his glove) to lift his team to a doubleheader split. In his nomination letter, teammate Steve Taber wrote, "Steve was a true competitor in every sense of the word. When Steve took the mound, we always knew we had a very good chance to win and most of the time we did."