Although many of the names are the same, the Bangor High School softball team has shifted around its defense this spring, which hasn’t seemed to hurt the 4-1 Rams too much.

Former third baseman Amy Hackett is now at shortstop, while pitcher Amy Wadleigh has been playing first base while her injured shoulder continues to heal. Courtney Stevenson has moved from left field to catcher.

Hackett, a junior, developed into a fine third baseman over the last two years, but the graduation of shortstop Kelly White, the KVAC North Division Player of the Year, meant the Rams had a hole to fill.

Bangor coach Don Stanhope said he was reluctant to move Hackett. She has the skills, however, to make the move and Stanhope said he also wanted to keep Emily Heath at second base.

“Emily has done such an exceptional job at second base and our bunt coverage allows us to really come in and know that she’s got everything locked down at first,” he said. “So it helped us to put Amy [at short]. It was a tough decision, though, to take away such a good third baseman. She’s learned a lot and she’s still learning.”

Wadleigh is still working her way back from a right shoulder injury that happened last fall and bothered her during basketball season. She had a couple of hard throwing sessions last week and she should be back in a few weeks.

“We started her throwing and it didn’t quite feel right, so we decided to let her tell us when she was ready,” Stanhope said. “A couple of weeks ago she said, ‘Coach, I want to pitch.’ She had that sparkle in her eye and I said, ‘you got it.'”

Wadleigh replaces first baseman Ilyse Angst, who graduated last year.

The change made sense as pitchers Sam Besse and Sam Bedore have fared well early.

Stevenson has caught before, so the loss of catcher Alex Fahey, who transferred to Kents Hill for hockey, made Stevenson’s move from the outfield to the plate logical.

“She’s done a great job,” Stanhope said. “She calls the entire game.”

There’s now a familiar last name in left field, where sophomore Nicole Stairs, the daughter of Bangor resident and longtime major league baseball player Matt Stairs, has taken over.

Nicole Stairs was a catcher and first baseman on Bangor’s junior varsity team last year.

Center fielder Tawnya Godinez and right fielder Kristen Eremita are back in those spots, while Lindsay Stevenson is now at third.

Kelley off to hot start

As expected, Hermon pitcher Ashley Kelley has been nothing less than dominating in the first few weeks of the season.

The Hawks are 5-1 behind the standout junior, who has allowed just 11 hits so far. She gave up two hits per game while striking out a total of 29 in a weekend sweep of Caribou. Hermon won 6-0 and 13-1, which is only the fourth run Kelley has allowed so far.

Kelley fired a perfect game – no walks, hits, or baserunners – with 11 strikeouts against Mount Desert Island on April 26. She also homered and tripled in that game, which came two days after she suffered her only loss of the season. In that game, a 3-0 Ellsworth win, Kelley struck out 14 and gave up five hits.

She also logged a no-hitter, striking out 16, and allowed one walk against Foxcroft Academy on April 23. In the season-opening game, Kelley shut out John Bapst of Bangor 3-0, tossing a two-hitter with 13 strikeouts.

That’s 13.8 strikeouts per game.

Should make for an interesting matchup Saturday when defending Class B state champ Bucksport, which has its own pitching star in Terren Hall, travels to Hermon to face the Hawks.