Spring in New England.

Thrills and chills; fastballs and snowballs; frozen ropes (vicious line drives) and rope that is literally frozen.

Baseball and softball players are subjected to some of the worst conditions known to man and woman.

Bucksport High School baseball coach Dave Gonyar, Lee Academy baseball coach Randy Harris and Bangor High School softball coach Lisa Richards were asked to recall their worst spring experiences.

“When I was at Maine, Jeff Plympton was pitching for us one afternoon and it was soooo… cold,” recalled Gonyar, a former Black Bear outfielder. “Jeff had his slider going that day.

“I remember he threw one slider that started off behind the batter and it broke across the plate for strike three. By the time we looked up from the outfield, Jeff had already sprinted across the foul line on his way to go sit in the bus,” chuckled Gonyar.

Then there was a game at Yale.

“We had a steady mist and it was just about freezing rain. My feet went from cold to numb. You couldn’t stay dry because of the mist,” said Gonyar. “We just wanted to get the game over with. I don’t even remember if we won or lost.”

He recalled a frigid, snowy 12-4 loss to Vermont in 1984 during which current Baltimore Orioles shortstop Mike Bordick made four errors in the first inning.

Harris will never forget a blustery, snowy day at Colby College where his Husson College Braves were opening the northern portion of their schedule.

“I had a bad knee and I was getting my knee taped in the training room,” said catcher Harris, who admitted he was in no hurry to head to the field. “I didn’t stretch out properly. In the first inning of the first game, a guy tried to steal and I came up throwing. I tore all the muscles in my shoulder. It was the only real serious injury I’ve ever had.

“Every time we played Colby, it was right after the spring trip and it was 36 degrees with snowflakes,” said Harris.

Richards remembered a shortened preseason game.

“The wind was blowing and there were snow flurries. Our pitchers were young and they couldn’t grip the ball,” said Richards. “You don’t get a lot out of a scrimmage like that.”

She did remember that Michelle Puls’ parents “brought a huge thing of hot chocolate to the bench. There was plenty for everybody in that cannister.”

Bordick off to blazing start

Bordick has obviously come a long way since that forgettable Vermont game and he is off to one of the fastest starts in his 15-year pro career.

Entering Friday’s games, the Winterport native had already hit three homers – his previous single-season high is 13 – and he was tied for second in the American League in runs batted in with 13.

Bordick, who hits ninth, was tied for seventh in average at .412.

“I’ve been seeing the ball all right,” said Bordick. “I worked hard all spring. I have a consistent approach and I stay with it.

“I haven’t been trying to hit homers. I’ve been lucky enough to get the right part of the bat on the ball. I stay with my game plan. I just try to put the ball in play,” added Bordick.

He has spent the last couple of off-seasons working out with strength and conditioning coach Tim Bishop and he said his familiarity with hitting coach Terry Crowley is also paying dividends.

“Terry knows my approach and what I like to do in my pregame routine. It’s fun to be around him,” said the 34-year-old Bordick, who also praised new manager Mike Hargrove.

“He’s doing a great job. All he talks about is being mentally prepared to win every game. Our spirits are pretty high. We’re excited about this season,” said Bordick.

For the record, Bordick said the weather during the Yale game was worse than the Vermont game.

A Kenduskeag bath

For 15 years, Bangor native Tom Civiello was former Bangor Parks and Recreation Director Dale Theriault’s right-hand man.

And, on one Saturday every April, it meant helping orchestrate the Kenduskeag Stream Canoe Race.

He has his share of memories of the event but the one that sticks out is the year Tony Trafton tried to navigate the Kenduskeag in a bath tub.

“That was interesting. He had an outrigger made of PVC pipe,” recalled Civiello. “He didn’t make it to the finish line.”

Civiello, who left the Bangor Parks and Recreation Department in 1988, was like a co-director and one of the primary people responsible for compiling times.

He did so with and without computers.

“When we had to keep it by hand, we were worried that some of the canoes would cross the finish line before all of them started the race,” said Civiello. “So we had to do it very quickly. And the canoeists were all in a rush to get their times. It took us two days to get all the times done.”

The computer era has allowed them to compile the results “instantaneously.”

He said it was “a lot of work but a lot of fun. I always looked forward to it.”

After he left the department, he realized a longtime goal of actually entering the race. He paddled with Randy Peters for three years.

“You could see that everyone had a good time, even when they dumped. So I wanted to try it and it turned out to be a blast,” said Civiello.