These days, softball practice is a bit boring at Lee Academy as it is across the rest of the rainy, muddy state.

“It’s a very limited situation,” said Pandas coach Ron Weatherbee, who is likely just as exasperated with the weather as the rest of the coaches around the state. “The first three or four days, it’s fine to be in the gym. After that you don’t want to be there anymore.”

Especially if you’re preparing to defend a state championship.

Weatherbee said the Pandas, who beat Western Maine champion Buckfield 1-0 in last year’s Class D final, have kept up their spirits despite the days of soft toss and cage work.

“I think there’s a lot of excitement,” he said. “They know it’s their last year in Class D and they want to prove last year wasn’t a fluke.”

Lee Academy is moving up to Class C next year.

Lee will indeed be a favorite to repeat as Eastern Maine champions, considering the group returning to the team. It’s the same group that helped the Pandas win the Class D basketball state crown this winter.

That bunch includes the junior quintet of pitcher Brooke Harris, catcher Aarika Ritchie, first baseman Amanda Gifford, center fielder Karin Bird, and infielder Dana Houghton, who played third base last year and may move to shortstop this season. Harris, Ritchie, Gifford and Bird were named to the Penobscot Valley Conference Class D first team.

The same core was on the Class D state soccer championship team, which means another state title this season would make it four seasons in a row and a soccer-basketball-softball sweep for 2006-07.

“They’ve had very successful high school careers to this point,” said Weatherbee, who also coaches basketball. “They were the guts of our team this winter and last spring, and I’m hoping they’ll do it again next winter and next spring.”

Brooke Harris spent some time in the gym late in the basketball season. Harris threw with her father, former longtime Lee baseball coach and current athletic director Randy Harris.

“She’s a lot quicker, even more so than last year,” Weatherbee said. “Her location has improved. Last year she had a fastball and a little bit of a changeup and a curve. Now she’s got better command and more confidence in throwing her change and locating it.”

The lineup will be similar to last year’s, with speedsters Gifford, Harris and Bird all batting at the top of the order and Ritchie and Houghton providing power in the middle.

New players to the lineup include likely second baseman Amy Lane, who played her freshman year and is back for her senior season after taking two years off, sophomore Jessica Arbo, Morgan McGaw and Katelyn Mallett.

Arbo could be the right fielder, while McGaw would play in left and Mallet would be the third baseman.

Mallett adds a lot of speed and both Lane and McGaw have been hitting well in the preseason.

“[McGaw] has been crushing the ball,” Weatherbee said. “But that’s in the cage, in the gym. You never know what happens when you get outside.”

Lee is scheduled to open Friday at Deer Isle-Stonington.

Witches decide on college

Three senior members of the Brewer varsity softball team, including one of the top pitchers in the state, will continue to play when they get to college next year, Witches coach Skip Estes said.

Pitcher Jordan McLain, a 2006 Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference first-team member, is heading to the University of Southern Maine in Gorham. Three-year varsity team members Julie Lorenz and Sarah Estes, Skip Estes’ daughter, will attend Thomas College in Waterville.

McLain was the 2004 Rookie of the Year in the then-Class A Penobscot Valley Conference, the 2005 Pitcher of the Year, and was first team both seasons. She earned the win for Brewer in the 2004 Eastern Maine Class A championship game. McLain was named to the KVAC all-academic team for basketball. Skip Estes said she plans to study sports medicine.

Lorenz, who plans to study accounting, has been on the Brewer team for three years. She pitches and plays outfield and third base for the Witches.

Sarah Estes, a first baseman, will also play field hockey for the Terriers. Estes was a PVC first-team field hockey all-star in 2005 and 2006.

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