One solution to alleviating a shortage of athletic fields is to build a new one.

Another solution, one being utilized at the Weatherbee School complex in Hampden, is to lengthen the day – or at least the availability of light.

Thanks to the installation of lights at Bordick Park and the addition of a bank of lights at the adjacent multipurpose, artificial-turf field, Hampden Academy will host its first night games in varsity baseball and softball Friday when the Broncos face the Brewer Witches.

Brief ceremonies will be held before the 7 p.m. games. Youngsters from the Hampden-Newburgh and Winterport Little Leagues will throw out the first pitches, and softball and baseball alumni have been invited to attend the ceremony.

In addition, Hampden Academy’s state championship show choir will sing the national anthem before the games.

“It’s going to be fairly low-key,” said David Shapiro, Hampden Academy’s athletics administrator and varsity baseball coach, “but we wanted to acknowledge the folks who have enabled us to have lights at the fields.”

The lighting project was funded by an anonymous donation of $130,000. Installation work began last summer.

Bordick Park plays host to varsity and junior varsity baseball as well as “A” and “B” middle school teams during the spring, along with American Legion, Junior League and Senior League teams during the summer.

The lack of lights left precious little time after school during the spring and after the work day during the summer for all the teams to have sufficient practice time on the only full-sized baseball field in the community.

But last week, the varsity baseball team was able to hold a couple of 7 p.m. practices, and actually played the final innings of last Friday’s late-afternoon game against Old Town under the lights to compensate for cloudy, darkened conditions.

“It’s huge, really for baseball at all levels here,” said Shapiro. “It’s like adding an entirely new field because it gives us an extra two or three hours a day.”

The multipurpose field already had lights for football, soccer and other sports, but the new bank of lights added at one end of the field now provides sufficient lighting for night softball games and practices.

The additional softball lights also will make it possible for tournaments to be held during the summer, using both the turf field and the refurbished softball field at nearby Reeds Brook Middle School.

The anonymous donation also is slated to fund the installation of bathrooms in the concession building at the complex. That plumbing part of the project has not yet been completed, Shapiro said.

Classification changes approved

The full membership of the Maine Principals’ Association has approved classification changes for interscholastic sports for the next two-year cycle, which begins with 2007-08 academic year.

Final approval was given at the MPA’s annual spring conference late last week, according to MPA executive director Dick Durost.

The changes are the result of revised enrollment cutoff levels using school enrollments as of April 1, 2006, and are based on recommendations made by the MPA’s classification committee.

Among the changes, Brewer will move from Class B to Class A in football and ice hockey, while Old Town, Erskine Academy of South China and Gardiner will move from A to B in cheering, baseball, softball, basketball and soccer, with Old Town also competing in Class B in golf and tennis. Central of Corinth will shift from Class C to Class B in cheering, baseball, softball, basketball and soccer, Hodgdon will shift from Class C to Class D and Schenck of East Millinocket and Lee Academy will move from Class D to Class C.

Four private schools in Western Maine, Gould Academy of Bethel, Hebron Academy, Kents Hill and Hyde School of Bath all would shift from Class D to Class C in those sports.

Despite rumors to the contrary, there will be no new shifting of teams from Eastern to Western Maine or from the West to the East, Durost added.

The MPA also considered a proposal by its basketball committee to extend the preseason for winter sports from three weeks to four weeks. Currently the first week of practices for winter sports typically coincides with Thanksgiving week, and supporters of the proposal thought an additional week of preseason before Thanksgiving week would alleviate any loss of practice time fostered by the holiday weekend.

The MPA’s Interscholastic Management Committee voted unanimously against the proposal last Wednesday, Durost said. The MPA’s full membership subsequently turned down the proposal by approximately a 4-to-1 margin, he said.

St. Dom’s Boucher mourned

The state’s high school athletic community is mourning the death of longtime former St. Dominic of Lewiston hockey coach Bob Boucher, who died late last week in the aftermath of a heart attack suffered while vacationing in Florida.

The 55-year-old Boucher stepped down from the St. Dom’s coaching post in 2005 for health reasons but continued to serve the school as its athletics administrator. He led the Saints to five state championships during 25 years as head hockey coach, and also won three state titles in 16 years as the school’s boys soccer coach.

Boucher was inducted into the Auburn-Lewiston Hall of Fame, and in March was presented with the Maine Class A Hockey Coaches Association’s lifetime achievement award.