Hackett, Lapierre lead hall inductions Baseball ceremony set Aug. 17 in Portland

Former University of Maine catcher Eddie Hackett, who lives in Bangor, and center fielder Gary Lapierre of Westbrook are among 12 men who will be inducted into the Maine Baseball Hall of Fame on Aug. 17 at the Holiday Inn by the Bay in Portland.

The others are the late Ron Soucie of Brewer, Conant Feeney of Jonesboro and Chris Anton of Scarborough; Steve Cates of Cutler, Steve Lancaster and Bob “Lefty” Parlin of Farmington, Terry Snow of Cumberland, Henry L’Heureux of Springvale, Josh McNaboe of Standish and Greg Conley of Portland.

Hackett was a two-time All-PVC selection at Orono High School in 1979 and 1980 before going to the University of Maine where he earned a reputation as an exceptional defensive catcher and handler of pitchers. Maine went to the College World Series in each of his four seasons and he co-captained the ’84 team. He went on to be an assistant at Maine and the head coach of the first Brewer American Legion team.

Lapierre was a former Deering High School of Portland star who was a three-time All-State selection. He played four seasons at Maine and was the captain his senior year. The speedster held eight Black Bear hitting records when he graduated in 1988.

Soucie, who died in 2003 after a five-year battle with cancer, was one of the most dominant lefties in the state, averaging more than two strikeouts per inning at Bangor’s John Bapst High School. The three-sports star once pitched back-to-back no-hitters. He went on to pitch for Holy Cross College (Mass.) before transferring to Husson College where he set the school record for strikeouts in a season (146) and in a game (24).

Like Soucie, Cates and Feeney were exceptional lefties. Cates starred at Washington Academy in East Machias and at the University of Maine-Machias. He was one of the top pitchers in the Quoddy League for many years from the 1960s to the 1980s, leading the Cutler Cardinals to 16 league titles.

Feeney put together an impressive resume for the semi-pro Jonesboro Jets and pitched in the Brooklyn (now Los Angeles) Dodgers farm system.

Lancaster excelled in three sports at Livermore Falls High and played two years in the Philadelphia Phillies farm system; Parlin was a slugging first baseman for Farmington High School in the 1950s before playing for the semi-pro Temple Townies; McNaboe was a standout at Portland’s Cheverus High and the Morrill Post Legion team during the 50’s before playing at Holy Cross and for the 1958 Army team that won the Japan inter-service championship; Snow was a great hitter and pitcher at Greely High of Cumberland in the 1960s and went on to play at Springfield College.

L’Heureux played five years of semi-pro baseball and joins older brother Walter in the Hall; Conley was a two-time All-Telegram League choice at Deering and played at Springfield College and in the San Diego Padres organization for four years. Anton was a long-time benefactor of youth sports in Maine, organizing and outfitting several teams.