Marc Halsted was just out of college when he got his first head coaching job, guiding the Hampden Academy varsity baseball team.

Six years later, he now leaves that job with mixed emotions, content with the growth of the program but sure to miss the players he has left behind.

Halsted got married July 10, and he and new wife Kate have moved to Montpelier, Vt., halfway between his hometown of Orono and her hometown of Toronto.

Halsted will teach American history at Northfield (Vt.) High School in Norwich, Vt., and also hopes to find a job coaching baseball or hockey. His wife will teach physical education and health in the area.

“I don’t think I could have ever left New England without a fight, and I don’t think she could have stayed in Maine without a fight,” Halsted said.

The 27-year-old Halsted was a standout athlete at Orono High School who went on to play baseball at the University of Maine.

After graduating, he pursued coaching opportunities and was hired at Hampden Academy.

In his first year, the Broncos won just five games, then fell back to three wins the following season. But the last four years have produced steady growth, from four wins in 2001 to five wins in 2002, seven wins in 2003 and a 12-6 record last spring.

Hampden finished the regular season with an 11-5 record, then defeated Lawrence of Fairfield in the Eastern A preliminary round before losing to Mark Rogers and eventual Eastern Maine champion Mount Ararat of Topsham 4-0 in the regional quarterfinals.

“That’s the thing I’m most proud of, the steady improvement we made with the program,” said Halsted, who also taught at Orono High for the last four years.

Halsted leaves behind a talented corps of players at Hampden with just four players graduating off last spring’s 17-man roster.

“A lot of these kids have played for me for two or three years, when we’ve gone from five wins to 12. They’ve been part of the growth of the team,” said Halsted, who also credited fifth-year assistant coach Andy Sumner for his contributions to the program.

“One of the things I’ll miss most is having the chance to coach some of the finest kids I’ve ever been around. They also happen to be some of the toughest kids you’ll ever want to meet, kids you want to go out and compete with.”

DePatsy moves to Lincoln Acad.

Nick DePatsy, who coached the Georges Valley of Thomaston boys basketball team to the Western Maine Class C final last winter, is leaving that post to take a similar job at Lincoln Academy of Newcastle.

DePatsy, the boys varsity coach at Georges Valley for the last 10 years, led the Buccaneers to a 12-6 regular-season record good for fourth place in Western C during the 2003-04 season. GV then advanced to the regional final for the second time in three years before losing to Jay on a last-second bucket.

The Buccaneers also reached the Western C final in 2002 before losing to a Jay team that went on to win the state championship.

DePatsy compiled a 90-90 regular-season record at Georges Valley, but went 68-40 over the final six years of that tenure. His teams qualified for postseason play each of the last seven years.

Before going to Georges Valley, the Waldoboro native and Medomak Valley High graduate coached for three seasons at Madison High.

Lincoln Academy, which plays in the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class B ranks, finished 14th in Western B last winter with a 6-12 regular-season record. The Eagles had been coached by Chuck Wyman, who stepped down after nine years on the job.