Contact key as Rams stay undefeated Batters hitting, pitchers keep foes from doing same

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With the high school baseball season well under way, the Bangor Rams are the only remaining undefeated team in the newly minted Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class A North division.

Two reasons for that success have to do with contact – the contact the Bangor batters make with the ball and the contact a deep Rams’ pitching staff prevents via the strikeout.

The former quality was at its best Monday, when Bangor improved its record to 5-0 with a 5-1 victory over Messalonskee of Oakland.

Not one Bangor batter struck out during the game, the first time Jeff Fahey can remember his team going a full game without a strikeout in his six years as the Rams’ head coach.

Entering today’s scheduled game against Old Town, a Bangor lineup led by senior first baseman Scott Hackett, junior catcher Gordon Webb, and junior outfielder Alex Gallant has struck out just 15 times overall in five contests.

“I think we’ve got some pretty good baseball players,” said Fahey, whose team has averaged 7.2 runs per game in wins over Brewer, Erskine Academy of South China, Hampden Academy, Lawrence of Fairfield, and Messalonskee. “I don’t think there’s an easy out right up and down the lineup.”

Not that offensive success always requires contact. Take outfielder Kyle Vanidestine, who sparked Bangor’s win over Messalonskee by drawing three walks from the leadoff spot in the order and scoring three of his team’s five runs.

But while Bangor’s batters have struck out an average of just three times per game in the early going, Bangor’s pitchers have struck out 50 batters in five games covering 33 innings – 10 times per game or 1.5 times per inning.

Senior Jim Cox anchors the staff, having struck out 22 batters in 12 2/3 innings. That performance was highlighted by a complete-game two-hitter Friday at Lawrence, where he struck out 15 to lead Bangor to a 9-0 victory.

Sophomore Ian Edwards, senior reliever Kyle Leeman, classmate Tyson Barron, and Gallant also have contributed to the Rams’ strong start on the mound. Bangor has two shutouts already this spring and has allowed only nine total runs in five games.

“I think one of our advantages is that we have pretty good pitching depth,” said Fahey, who also credited assistant coach John Tennett for his tutelage of the staff. “We don’t have a lot of depth anywhere else, but we do have good pitching depth.”

Eagles’ arms take flight

Another baseball team using its pitching depth to good advantage early in the 2006 season is George Stevens Academy of Blue Hill.

Four different starters have helped the four-time defending Eastern Maine Class C champions move out to a 4-0 start.

Collin Henry, Ross Gallagher, Josh Astbury, and Caleb Hale have combined to allow just 14 hits and two runs over four games covering 27 innings.

The latest example of GSA’s arm strength came Monday when Hale and Henry combined to no-hit Searsport 2-0.

Hale, a sophomore, worked the first six innings, shaking off six walks to hold the Vikings scoreless. Henry, a senior, then struck out two batters in the seventh.

That marked the second shutout so far for coach Dan Kane’s club.

Gallagher opened the season with a three-hit, 10-0 victory over Stearns of Millinocket in a six-inning contest.

Henry followed that up with a complete-game four-hitter with nine strikeouts in a 3-1 victory over Class B Bucksport, before Astbury – another sophomore – teamed with Hale to scatter seven hits as the Eagles topped Orono 14-1.

Those pitchers work with talented sophomore catcher Lucas Marks, a second-year starter, and a solid defensive unit that includes senior shortstop Blake Wessel, senior second baseman Dan Larry, and senior center fielder Phineas Peake.

GSA is scheduled to play against Mount Desert Island in Bar Harbor today.

Nadeau to coach Winslow girls

Hall-Dale boys varsity basketball coach Tom Nadeau was approved by the Union 52 school board Monday night to coach the Winslow girls varsity basketball team.

“We had a lot of quality applicants,” Winslow athletic director Sean Keenan said. “We think Tom will do a great job for us. We’re very excited to have him.”

Nadeau coached the Bulldogs of Farmingdale to a 4-14 record this season. They did not qualify for the tournament.

He served as the Winslow boys junior varsity coach before going to Hall-Dale for the 2005-06 season. He has also been an assistant coach at Thornton Academy in Saco.

Nadeau played basketball at Skowhegan and was the starting point guard on the Indians’ 1998 Class A state championship team. He went on to have a four-year career at UMaine-Farmington.

Nadeau teaches seventh grade at the Vassalboro Community School, a grades K-8 school which is in Union 52.

The Winslow job was likely an attractive one for local coaches. Even though the Black Raiders are graduating a number of top seniors, including All-Maine third-teamer Stephanie Bossie, Winslow will still have several players back, including some who played on the 2005 Class B state title team.

The Raiders went 14-6 this season, including a 57-53 overtime loss to MDI in the Eastern Maine Class B quarterfinals.

Nadeau will replace Brenda Beckwith, who coached part of the year after taking over for J.R. Richards four games into the season.

Six awarded MPA scholarships

Six high school seniors were recently awarded $1,000 scholarships by the Maine Principals’ Association during its annual honors luncheon held at the Spectacular Events Center in Bangor.

Those receiving scholarships included Mary K.B. Cox of Cape Elizabeth High School, Steven Tatko of Foxcroft Academy in Dover-Foxcroft, Melinda Sullivan of Lisbon High School, Elizabeth Gerard of Madawaska High School, and Timothy Fournier of Mountain Valley High School in Rumford. Also receiving the first scholarship specifically awarded to a Morse High School of Bath student in memory of Richard W. Tyler was Henry Mann.

The scholarships are given in memory of Horace O. McGowan and Tyler. McGowan was executive secretary from 1973 to 1984 of what was known then as the Maine Secondary School Principals’ Association. Tyler was the principal of Morse High School from 1970 to 1984 and served as executive director of the Maine Principals’ Association from 1984 to 2001.