Marc Halsted has lived in Orono all of his life. Now the 17-year-old Orono High School senior has put his name on an NCAA Letter of Intent that will keep him in Orono for four more years as a member of the University of Maine baseball team.

Halsted was one of seven student-athletes to sign a baseball letter of intent and one of six from the state of Maine.

The other signees are Thornton Academy of Saco shortstop Keith Croteau, Yarmouth High School righthanded pitcher Andy Estabrook, Mt. Blue High School of Farmington southpaw pitcher-first baseman-outfielder Steve Lancaster, Cony High School of Augusta outfielder Rex Turner, Brunswick High School righthanded pitcher Pete Catlin, and Edgewood (N.J.) High School pitcher-designated hitter Roark Birsner.

Birsner is also a righthander.

“This is a dream come true,” said Halsted, who can play third base, second, shortstop, and catch. “I’ve been brought up on University of Maine baseball, Coach (John) Winkin, and his type of game.”

“Every little kid dreams about playing in a Maine uniform at Mahaney Diamond,” added Halsted. “As you get older, your ideas on college may change. But, in the back of your mind, you still want to play at the place you grew up around. This is definitely a thrill.”

Halsted went 11-for-23 in the State American Legion Tournament last summer to led Old Town-Orono to its second state American Legion championship last summer and was named to the all-tourney team. He hit .458 at Orono High and didn’t strike out in 59 at-bats.

“Marc is a clone of (former Bear co-captain) Jeff Paul,” said Winkin. “He has a great work ethic and he’s a competitor. He has that flair for coming through when his team needs it.”

“That’s the greatest compliment I’ve ever received,” said Halsted. “Jeff Paul was my first real hero. I have a lot of respect and admiration for him.”

In fact, Paul was an assistant coach for the Old Town-Orono Legion team a few years ago and he gave Halsted some gloves to repair. One of Halsted’s hobbies is repairing baseball gloves. He fell in love with one of Paul’s gloves and asked if he could keep it. He has been using it for the last two years.

Halsted isn’t taking anything for granted. He intends to work on improving his footspeed, his arm strength, and the pop in his bat.

“I need to drive the ball a little more. I had 27 hits in high school and 26 of them were singles,” said Halsted.

, who is also a goalie for the Orono High School hockey team.

He said it doesn’t matter to him where he winds up playing.

at Maine.

“I’m just going to focus on making it wherever I can,” said Halsted. “This is a great opportunity, but I realize it’s going to take a lot of hard work.”

Winkin said he was “really pleased” with the recruiting class and credited recruiting coordinator and assistant coach Jay Kemble with making it possible.

“This is the best class we’ve had in quite some time. Every one of these kids has a future at Maine. We wouldn’t have signed them if they didn’t,” said Winkin.

“They have all shown me that they can be winners and can contribute something to help us.”

He added that, “The thing that has been awfully good for us is that there is a cycle of real good Maine kids. We’ve signed 10 of them in the last two years.”

It reminds me of that cycle in the early ’80s and these kids resemble the kids that played at that time.”

Among those in-state players were Billy Swift, Paul, Eddie Hackett, Billy Reynolds, Ed Pickett, Pete Adams, Mark Sutton, Rick Lashua, Kevin Bernier, Jon Perry and Stu Lacognata.

Croteau hit .474 for Thornton Academy last spring and .396 for the Biddeford Legion team last summer. Winkin said Croteau “reminds of (former Bear shortstop) Russ Quetti with a little more quickness. He is excellent defensively.”

Turner has hit 10 homers and driven in 70 runs in his last two seasons at Cony and hit .422 for the Augusta Legion team with 10 homers and 33 RBIs last summer to earn Zone 2 Player of the Year honors. Winkin said Turner “is going to be a key outfielder for us. He has a strong arm, he runs well and he has good power. He’s a middle-of-the-order kind of guy.”

Between Yarmouth High and the Cumberland American Legion team, Estabrook had a combined 14-1 record with 193 strikeouts in 107 innings. Winkin said “Andy has tremendous poise and tremendous polish. He’s got a good arm.”

Lancaster was 4-1 with 38 strikeouts in 20 innings for the Franklin County Legion team and hit .397 with four homers and 25 RBIs. Winkin feels Lancaster “will eventually replace Lance Bogardus as a utility pitcher (starter and reliever). He has a very good breaking ball and he’s a good competitor. He also hits well enough to be used as an outfielder or DH.”

Catlin was 5-5 with a 1.25 earned run average for the Midcoast Legion team last summer and Winkin said, “Pete has a live arm and a very deceptive motion. I wouldn’t be surprised if he made a great closer some day.”

The 6-foot-4 Birsner was 6-2 for the Atco American Legion team last summer and Winkin said, “He’s a Kevin Buckley kind of player. He’s a power pitcher who easily throws in the high-80s. And he’s a real long ball threat at the plate.” – – –

University of Maine freshman defenseman Jeff Tory, whose eligibility is being reviewed by the NCAA, will miss this weekend’s series against Boston “We’ve been told that his case won’t be addressed by the Academic Requirements Committee until next week,” said Maine Athletic Director Mike Ploszek.

Tory has already missed two games as a result of the probe.