Two Aroostook County girls basketball coaching openings have been filled with familiar names.

Rodney Codrey will take over the Central Aroostook girls next year, while Limestone/Maine School of Science and Mathematics athletic director Bob Doar will coach the Eagles.

Codrey replaces Andrea Lunn, who CAHS Superintendent Roger Shaw said decided not to come back for next season.

Shaw considers Codrey to be a proven commodity for the school. He’s been the junior varsity boys basketball coach for three years and also served as the varsity baseball coach.

After resigning from the baseball post, Codrey handed over the program to his son, Jon Codrey, a former Central Aroostook standout. Jon Codrey coached the Panthers to an Eastern Maine Class D title in 2003.

“We just have a lot of confidence in him,” Shaw said. “We’ve seen the results of his coaching and he always has a large number of student-athletes participating.”

Lunn, also a former Central Aroostook standout athlete, coached the Panthers to a 10-8 regular-season record and the No. 8 seed in the Class D tourney. CAHS fell to No. 9 Greater Houlton Christian in the prelims.

Doar last coached basketball for the Fort Kent girls, where he led the Warriors to a 19-35 record from 1996-98.

Doar said one of the reasons he applied for the job was he wanted to get back into coaching. He doesn’t view himself as a stopgap measure.

“It’s not good for a program to have a different coach every year,” Doar said.

The Eagles went 11-7 in the regular season, including a 50-48 win over eventual Eastern Maine Class D runner-up Ashland in the final game of the regular season. Limestone went into the tourney with the No. 7 seed and fell to No. 2 Calais in the quarterfinals. The Eagles beat No. 10 Houlton in the prelims.

Limestone will miss senior point guard and top 3-point threat Lindsey Beaulieu, but will welcome back starters Anna Haller, Julie Peers and Melanie Allen.

“We have a good group returning,” Doar said.

Rams coping with Heath’s health

Bangor High shortstop Emily Heath has been out for the past three weeks with mononucleosis, and although the Rams miss her glove and bat, they’ve made due by moving people from their regular infield spots.

Third baseman Amy Hackett, for example, has played shortstop when Kelly White, Bangor’s starting pitcher and backup shortstop, is in the circle. Kate Turner, who is the starting first baseman, has been playing third, where she played as a sophomore. Second baseman Ilyse Angst has been at first, and backup catcher Alex Fahey has been at second.

That’s what the Rams looked like in the infield at the start of Saturday’s 2-0 win over John Bapst. But in the fifth inning, when freshman Amy Wadleigh relieved White, most everyone went back to their regular positions – Turner at first, Angst at second, White at short and Hackett at third. Catcher Erin Porter played the whole game behind the plate.

And Bangor came away with an error-free shutout.

The Rams aren’t sure when Heath will be back, although Bangor coach Nancy Snowdeal said she is feeling better. Heath was in sweats on the bench Saturday.

“When you lose a player like that it hurts a lot,” White said. “But when you have a talented team you also have a lot of talent on the bench ready to come in. So that helps a lot.”

Freshmen boost MA, Lee

The girls who play for the Lee and Mattanawcook of Lincoln softball teams probably don’t like to think they have too much in common given the rivalry between the two schools that are 12 miles apart.

But they do. Both squads are headed for high seedings in the playoffs – MA in Eastern Maine Class C, Lee in Class D – and both have had freshmen step into big roles.

Lee’s fantastic freshmen have been well-documented as they’ve been successful contributing for the school’s cross country, soccer and basketball teams this year.

Softball is no different – freshman Brooke Turner has pitched every inning so far for the Pandas, who have freshmen starters behind the plate (Aarika Ritchie), at first (Amanda Gifford) and in center field (Karin Bird).

Some Mattanawcook players weren’t sure what to expect, but the Lynx have excelled despite graduating eight seniors last year.

“I was expecting us to be the young team and to have a learning team,” junior pitcher Jordan McCafferty said. “But I think we’re doing awesome.”

The most intriguing of MA’s freshmen may be Danielle NiCastro, a backup pitcher who had six saves as of May 27. The Lynx use NiCastro to give opposing teams a different look after seeing McCafferty for a few innings.

Lynx coach Dean Libbey said NiCastro has been working with local pitching coach Bob Mercer in Brewer.

“I’ve been trying to give her some valuable innings and it’s a luxury to have Jordan, who pitches really well and can easily go the distance, but to mix it up with two pitchers if the defense lets down an inning or two. So it’s been great.”

Shortstop Bree Hanscom has been the top everyday freshman for the Lynx. She went 3-for-5 with three singles, two runs and no errors in MA’s 11-8 win over Lee Friday.

Hermon seeking soccer coaches

Hermon will have two new soccer coaches this fall as Dave Hamel and Mike Poulin both resigned recently, athletic director Paul Soucy confirmed.

Hamel, who coached the Hermon boys and was a social studies teacher at the school, resigned from both his teaching and coaching posts. Soucy said Hamel resigned for personal reasons and declined to comment otherwise.

“We’ll miss him as a coach and a teacher,” Soucy said.

Poulin won’t be back as the girls soccer coach due to other commitments such as coaching the Hermon Middle School softball team, the Hermon High freshman boys basketball squad, and serving as the mathematics department head at the high school.

“He just decided to take some time off for personal reasons,” Soucy said.

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