Billy Kane, a former assistant coach at Husson College and currently the head coach of the Penquis Navigators American Legion program, has been named varsity baseball coach at Foxcroft Academy, according to FA athletic administrator Tim Smith.

Kane replaces Paul Lancisi, who resigned earlier this winter, citing the demands of his growing family business based in Bradford and Shirley. Lancisi coached at Foxcroft for the last three years and guided the Ponies a 30-23 record and two trips to the Eastern Maine Class B quarterfinals.

A Central of Corinth graduate, Kane went on to study and play baseball at Husson, where he was named to the 2005 North Atlantic Conference all-tournament team.

Kane then went on to coach under Dr. John Winkin at Husson through the 2007 season.

He also has a longstanding relationship with the Penquis American Legion team, which includes Foxcroft players and played its home games last summer on the Ponies’ home field in Dover-Foxcroft.

Kane served as an assistant with the program from 2000 to 2003 before becoming head coach in 2004. He guided the Navigators to a 10-9 regular-season record and a berth in the American Legion Zone 1 tournament last summer.

Kane, who works in the Hermon school systerm, inherits a Foxcroft team that finished with 9-9 last spring, winning a preliminary-round playoff game before dropping an 8-7 quarterfinal decision to eventual Eastern B champion Winslow.

Hampden, GSA honored

The Hampden Academy boys basketball team and the George Stevens Academy of Blue Hill girls squad are recipients of 2008 sportsmanship awards presented by the Eastern Maine Board #111 of Approved Basketball Officials.

Board #111 instituted a sportsmanship awards program 25 years ago to recognize a boys and girls varsity basketball team from the area served by its officials.

Officials rate a team’s players, coaches, fans and game officials such as scorers, timers and athletic administrators after each game during the regular season and those ratings are compiled to determine the award recipients.

The Hampden boys and GSA girls each will receive a banner to display in their school.

Earning honorable mention status, and a framed certificate for their school, are the girls teams from Greenville and Bangor and the boys teams from Calvary Chapel of Orrington and Bangor.

Recognized as most improved this season were the Ellsworth girls and the Brewer boys teams.

Brown leaves MCI post

Mike Brown, the boys varsity basketball coach at Maine Central Institute in Pittsfield for the last four years, will not return to the sidelines next season.

One major reason for his decision was to have the chance to follow his sons, ages 11 and 7, through their fledgling athletic careers.

Brown had coached the Huskies to three straight postseason appearances in 2005, 2006 and 2007. MCI reached the Eastern Maine Class B semifinals in 2007 after upending top-seeded Maranacook of Readfield in the quarterfinals.

The Huskies went 1-17 this season, making Brown’s overall record at MCI 40-38.

Before taking the MCI post, the former Lawrence High School standout and Bowdoin College graduate was the boys varsity coach for nine years at Mount View of Thorndike.

eclark@bangordailynews.net

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