Lavway, Hackett top Mr. Baseball list

Bangor High School’s Brian Hackett and Presque Isle High School’s Chad Lavway are among the four finalists for the 14th annual Dr. John Winkin Mr. Baseball Award.

Hackett joins Tommy Waterman (1998), Darren Stover (1997) and Matt Kinney (who won the award in 1995) as finalists from Bangor. Lavway and Marcus Nadeau (2001) are Presque Isle’s only finalists.

Hackett and Lavway join Deering High of Portland teammates Ryan Flaherty and Andrew Giobbi as the 2005 finalists. The award will be presented prior to the Maine High School Senior All-Star baseball game at Mahaney Diamond on the University of Maine campus in Orono Friday, June 24.

Hackett played three positions for the Rams, but most of his time was spent at third base, where he committed just four errors in three seasons. He was also a pitcher and catcher.

“He was by far our best hitter,” said Bangor coach Jeff Fahey. “And from the time he was a freshman, when we called him up from JV to pitch and he pitched a no-hitter, he was a mainstay for us.”

Hackett hit .367 with 15 RBIs and also had a .500 on-base percentage for the 13-6 Rams. The UMaine-bound senior went 5-3 with a 4.20 ERA with 45 strikeouts and just 13 walks in 35 innings. He also had a 25-inning scoreless streak this season.

“I got the news today and I was completely surprised,” Hackett said about being a finalist. “It’s awesome. It’s all you can hope for. It’s nice to be recognized for all of the hard work you put in.”

This is the second major honor for Lavway, who was named the Penobscot Valley Conference player of the year after hitting .458 (27-for-59) with 14 RBIs and 20 runs scored while batting either first or second. He was 16-for-18 in stolen base attempts and had a .529 on-base percentage.

“He’s the best bunter I’ve ever had and the best baserunner too,” said Wildcats coach Tim Olore. “Being a finalist is a great honor for him and our program.”

The center fielder and ace pitcher went 5-1 on the mound with one save and a 1.75 ERA. He had 73 strikeouts and 22 walks in 40 innings for the 13-4 Wildcats, the top seed among East Class B teams which was upset in the quarterfinals.

“Finishing No. 1 was awesome, but it was pretty shattering the way we finished up,” Lavway said. “This kind of takes some the sting out of it, I guess. I hoped I’d be considered but I didn’t know I’d be one of the four finalists.”