After taking last season off to rebuild the program, the Carrabec High School baseball team is back.

While the Cobras aren’t piling up wins, they are improving, and that has coach Troy Dunphy excited about the future.

“We’ve been in some ballgames,” Dunphy said. “The bats are starting to come alive.”

Carrabec is 1-8, the win a 13-3 victory over Boothbay. Among the recent losses, however, were a 1-0 loss to Mt. Abram, and a 9-6 loss at powerhouse St. Dominic. The Cobras are young, with seven sophomores and two freshmen on the roster.

“They’re playing smart baseball. They just haven’t played a lot of it together,” Dunphy said.

Levi Murray and Brandon Lehay are pitching well, Dunphy said, and freshmen Christian Miller and Will Crawford are exceeding Dunphy’s expectations.

Advertisement

Dunphy said his team learned something after the close loss to St. Dom’s.

“Once you start hitting the ball, other teams make mistakes, too,” Dunphy said. “I see a light at the end of the tunnel. I think we’ll improve over the next few years.”

• • •

One-third of Valley’s roster is eighth graders, and that has led to plenty of inconsistent play for the Cavaliers this season.

“We’re just up and down,” coach Paul Belanger said.

Belanger pointed to an early season doubleheader against Forest Hills. In Game 1, the Cavs made six errors and lost.

Advertisement

“The next game, 20 minutes later, we make one error and win the game,” Belanger said.

Three of Valley’s five eighth graders are usually in the starting lineup, Belanger said. The Cavs have just two seniors, including pitcher Caleb Wade, who missed all of last season with a knee injury.

“He’s just getting back into the swing of things,” Belanger said of Wade, who is 2-1 on the mound.
Sophomore Dylan Belanger leads the Cavs at the plate with a batting average over .600. Coach Belanger is looking for more overall offensive production.

“One game we’ll hit real well, the next game we’ll get two or three hits. We’re young,” Coach Belanger said.

Five of Valley’s final six games are at home in Bingham, beginning with a doubleheader against undefeated Buckfield on Saturday.

“That will tell us how we match up,” Coach Belanger said.

Advertisement

• • •

Nokomis looks to be in good shape to make the playoffs for the first time since 2002, and has a chance at its first winning season since 2000, when it went 9-7 in Class A.

Nokomis was 4-6 heading into Thursday game at Oak Hill. The Warriors play at Camden Hills today.

Thirteen teams make the Class B East playoffs and, as of Thursday, Nokomis sat in 11th place, just over four  points ahead of 14th place Belfast. Wins over Morse and Maranacook should help the Warriors maintain their playoff position. A key game is May 25 at Belfast.

Four of Nokomis’ final six games are on the road.
• • •

Winslow will be without senior third baseman Mackenzie Michaud for at least a few games. Michaud has a back injury, and coach Jesse LaCasse said he’s not sure when Michaud can return.

Advertisement

“Hopefully we’ll get him back for the playoffs. It’s something we have to adjust to on defense this time of year, which is tough, but if anything, we’ll have some guys ready for the playoffs,” LaCasse said.

In Wednesday’s 2-1 win over Maranacook, Ryan Dubois played third base for Winslow.

• • •

Around the state: The biggest game of the regular season in Class B West is set for Saturday, when undefeated Greely plays at undefeated Falmouth. The winner will likely be the No. 1 seed in the regional tournament… Bangor’s Greg Duff threw a no-hitter in Tuesday’s 3-0 win over Hampden. Duff struck out three and walked three. Bangor (11-0) has five shutouts this season, and has allowed more than two runs just once, a 10-8 win over Lawrence last week… The Class B East runner-up to Waterville the last two seasons, Bucksport dropped to Class C this year due to declining enrollment.The Bucks are 8-3 in their new division.

Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242
tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.