Move will allow Bangor softball to play at night

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It’s an issue of equality, Bangor High athletic director Steve Vanidestine said, that has the Ram softball team playing its games at the Union Street complex instead of the high school field this year.

With the Bangor baseball team playing regular games under the lights at Mansfield Stadium, the school wanted to give the girls a shot at playing night games, too.

“We wanted to give the girls the same opportunity as the boys,” Vanidestine said.

Night games tend to draw bigger crowds because parents are out of work for the day, and everyone has a chance to go home and rest before a game.

“Night games just have a different atmosphere,” he said.

Bangor coach Nancy Snowdeal would rather play at the school, but said Union Street is fine for now.

“I miss the atmosphere of the high school, but I like what they’ve done with the field,” Snowdeal said of some changes at Union Street, including a temporary fence at the 200-foot mark in the outfield. “They really made this more of a fast-pitch field.”

What’s not at issue, Vanidestine added, was the state of the high school field, which he said is playable. There are, however, big plans for extensive renovations.

There’s been a project in the works for about a year, he said, to put in lights, a press box, a concession stand, and restrooms that would serve the tennis courts and softball field, which are both on high school grounds.

Vanidestine said that when the school hired Snowdeal this year to take over for longtime coach Lisa Richards, he asked Snowdeal if she wanted a few night games. She said yes, and so Vanidestine got in touch with Mike Lucas, who works for Bangor Parks and Recreation and runs the Union Street complex. The two worked out an agreement so that using Union Street won’t cost any more than playing at home.

Several Bangor High programs already play at off-campus sites. The football and track and field teams compete at Cameron Stadium on Garland Street, baseball plays at Mansfield Stadium on Thirteenth Street, and the hockey team plays at Sawyer Arena, near Mansfield Stadium.

Vanidestine also wants to start a freshman softball program.

“That first experience in high school is important,” he said. “It’s good if you can come in and you don’t have to compete for a spot on the JV and [can] be on a team with your friends; that’s big.”

Smith recovering from crash

Woodland High basketball star Katie Smith plans to return to school Wednesday, 11 days after she broke her left arm and collarbone in a car accident April 27.

Smith was driving on a rain-slick Route 1 headed south to Baileyville when her 1994 Dodge Spirit apparently hydroplaned and flipped, according to state police (Smith said she went into shock and doesn’t remember the accident). She was wearing her seat belt but had to be extricated from her car and was taken to Calais Regional Hospital.

Doctors inserted seven metal screws and a metal plate.

Smith said she will definitely miss the rest of softball season and summer basketball, but could be back in time for soccer in the fall and likely in time to play basketball for the defending Eastern Maine Class D champions.

The Woodland softball team will certainly miss Smith, who pitched, played first base, and batted third in the lineup. In her last game before the accident, Smith tripled, singled, and drove in three runs.

But she plans to spend time around the team anyway.

“I’m going to try to be the manager and cheer them on,” Smith said.

Smith said Kati Holmes and Alicia Vose will likely pitch in her absence.

Smith was an Eastern Maine Class D basketball all-tourney pick and a Downeast Athletic Conference all-star this year.

Murray heading to Colby-Sawyer

Michelle Murray, a Nokomis of Newport basketball standout, will attend and play for Colby-Sawyer in New London, N.H.

It came down to Colby-Sawyer and St. Joseph’s in Standish, but Colby-Sawyer’s financial package was more attractive, Murray said. Both schools are in NCAA Division III and so cannot give athletic scholarships, but Murray will receive academic scholarships from Colby-Sawyer.

Murray didn’t get a chance to see the Chargers play in person, but she did watch a videotape and liked what she saw.

“They’re very similar to our Nokomis team,” she said. “They run some of the same defenses that we did.”

Murray will also be close to former Nokomis teammates Danielle Clark, who is going to the University of New Hampshire, and Lindsey Welch, who is headed to Southern Maine.

Murray was a third-team All-Mainer, a Big East Conference Class A all-star, and a member of the Eastern Maine Class A all-tourney team.

Murray will join two other former Maine high school players on the Colby-Sawyer roster: Messalonskee of Oakland’s Alyssa LaBelle and Westbrook’s Angela Moreau.

Jessica Bloch can be reached at 990-8193, 1-800-310-8600 or jbloch@bangordailynews.net.