The number of central Maine players who have announced their intentions to play field hockey at the University of Maine has tripled in recent weeks.

Last fall, Messalonskee senior Riley Field signed her National Letter of Intent to play for the Division I program. Earlier this month, Lydia Dexter, a junior at Messalonskee, announced that she has verbally committed to attend Maine in the fall 2017. Lawrence senior Lilla Tilton-Flood also verbally committed to attend Maine. Both Dexter and Tilton-Flood are invited walk-ons, meaning they do not receive a scholarship but could earn one in the future.

Messalonskee’s Lydia Dexter looks to break away from Cony’s Christina Claudel during a game last fall. Dexter verbally committed to attend the University of Maine. Staff file photo by Michael G. Seamans

Field and Dexter were key contributors to a Messalonskee team that went 14-0 in the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference and reached the Class A North final. Field, a midfielder, was a finalist for Miss Maine Field Hockey in 2015, while Dexter was a back on a defense that allowed just three goals in 17 games. Tilton-Flood, a midfielder, led the Bulldogs to a 12-4 record and a trip to the Class B North semifinals. All three were named to the Maine Field Hockey All-State team.

Field, Dexter and Tilton-Flood are all part of the Maine Majestix Field Hockey Club U-19 team, which is about to begin preparing for the regional club championship. At Maine, they will be joining a former Majestix teammate, Hayley Marshall of Wales, who is a freshman forward for the Black Bears.

Other area players who are members of the U-19 team who committed to continue playing in college are Skowhegan senior Leah Cruz (Bentley), Winslow senior Delaney Wood (Wesleyan), Messalonskee senior Emily Hogan (American) and Messalonskee junior Ally Corbett (St. Joseph’s of Philadelphia).

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The first game to be played on Colby College’s new baseball field is Thursday at 4 p.m. against the University of Maine at Farmington. The game was originally scheduled for April 4.

The softball team will play its first game on its new field Wednesday with a doubleheader against UMF scheduled for a 4 p.m. start.

The new baseball/softball complex, which is located on the site of the old baseball field, features artificial turf, full lighting for night games and practices, on-grade dugouts, LED scoreboards, bleachers behind home plate, public restrooms and a covered pavilion with hitting tunnels for batting practice. Colby will be the first New England Small College Athletic Conference school with synthetic turf baseball and softball fields.

The baseball field is still named after “Colby” Jack Coombs, who pitched for the Philadelphia A’s and Brooklyn Dodgers in the early 20th Century.

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Lawrence High School’s Hunter Chesley has committed to the University of Maine at Augusta women’s basketball team. Chesley, a 5-foot-6 forward, will be following in the footsteps of her father, Greg, a 1,000-point scorer for UMA men’s basketball, and older brother, Keith, currently a senior at UMA who became the all-time leading scorer at UMA this year.

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Josie Lee, a Cony High School alum, will play in the NCAA Division III women’s basketball national championship next Monday when Tufts meets Thomas Moore in Indianapolis. This is the first championship game for Lee and the Jumbos, who lost in the national semifinal each of the last two years. That includes a 62-52 loss in last year’s semifinal to Thomas Moore, which went on to defeat George Fox University in the title game. Thomas Moore is 32-0 and ranked No. 1 in the country. No. 7 Tufts is 28-3. Lee, a 5-foot-7 starting guard from Augusta, is averaging 5.0 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game for the Jumbos. Tip-off is 6 p.m.

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Honor roll: Thomas softball swept the weekly North Atlantic Conference awards for last week. Sonja Morse, of South China and Cony High School, was named the Pitcher of the Week after going 4-2 with five complete games in six appearances. The junior recorded 24 strikeouts and a 2.27 ERA in 37 innings. Junior first baseman Korrie Laren was named Player of the Week after hitting .379 (11 for 29) with a home run, four RBIs and nine runs scored in 10 games. Finally, freshman shortstop/outfielder Lexi Colpack garnered Rookie of the Week honors after batting .357 (10-for-28) with five RBIs, four stolen bases, three doubles and six runs scored in 10 games… Thomas baseball players Derek Kane and Dominic Esposito earned NAC player of the week and pitcher of the week honors, respectively. Kane, a senior first baseman/pitcher, batted .440 (11-for-25) with three doubles, two triples, eight RBIs and nine runs scored as Thomas went 4-4 in Florida last week. He hit safely in all eight games. Esposito, a junior, made two appearances in the Terriers’ conference-opening series against Castleton and picked up a win and a save while not allowing a single baserunner in seven innings of work. He struck out four … UMaine-Farmington baseball had a productive week in the Sunshine State, compiling a 5-1 record, with the only loss coming to 2015 Little East Conference finalist Eastern Connecticut State. Dustin McCrossin hit .417 (10 for 24) on the trip with 11 RBIs, seven runs scored and two doubles …Colby’s Soren Hanson was named NESCAC Baseball Player of the week on Monday. A senior pitcher/infielder, Hanson hit .450 and slugged .700 during the team’s Arizona trip with five doubles, four RBIs, four runs scored. As a pitcher, Hanson leads NESCAC in earned run average (0.64) and is fourth in strikeout with 17 in just 14 innings … UMF sophomore Lee-Anne Greenleaf of Gardiner was among 189 Division III athletes recognized as a 2015 ZAG Field Hockey/National Field Hockey Coaches Association Division III Scholar of Distinction last Thursday. The award is given to those who achieve a minimum grade point average of 3.90 or higher during the first semester …Colby’s Carl Reid was named one of five Division3tennis.com regional players of the week. The junior went 6-0 in singles play and also won three doubles matches during the Mules’ trip to California. The two-time All-American is 7-0 in singles play this season and 36-5 in his Colby career … Colby senior Alanna McDonough was named NESCAC Women’s Track Performer of the Week on Monday. In her first meet of the outdoor season, the All-American won the 3,000-meter steeplechase by more than 16 seconds, finishing in 10:47.28.

Randy Whitehouse — 621-5638

rwhitehouse@mainetoday.com

Twitter: @RAWmaterial33

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