Let’s try to keep this straight.
Dave Jordan, the former Lewiston coach, is now at Edward Little. Andrew Cessario, an assistant football coach at Edward Little and a teacher in the Auburn school system, takes over for Jordan at Lewiston.
The rivals are scheduled to meet Wednesday, April 22, in the KVAC season opener at Deschenes Field in Lewiston.
“It should all make for an interesting game,” Cessario said.
And the ideal start to an interesting season, too, as both schools have enough firepower and young talent to get back to the Class A East playoffs.
Both Twin Cities teams went .500 before losing in their initial playoff game.
Edward Little has a nucleus of five seniors eager to improve upon that. Lew Jensen and Brandon Knapp will be keys to a replenished rotation.
Juniors Drew Lashua (.375) and Brandon Varney, one of the league’s top defensive catchers, were among the Eddies’ leading hitters a year ago.
“A lot of the guys went to my clinics when I coached at Bates and at Poland, so most of them I knew and had a relationship with,” Jordan said. “Even though I was at Lewiston, they utilized me sometimes as a community member to help out during the year.”
The Eddies also will get a boost from Austin Cox, who returns after sitting out his sophomore year, and the sophomore quartet of Jarod Norcross-Plourde, Tyler Blanchard, Damian St. Pierre and C.J. Jipson, all of whom can pitch.
Lewiston looks for a strong season on the mound from seniors Kyle Ullrich and Michael Wong and junior Austin Wing.
When they aren’t on the hill, Wing and Wong give the Blue Devils a veteran presence on the left side of the infield.
“I’m optimistic,” the 23-year-old Cessario, a 2014 graduate of Saint Joseph’s College, said. “Entering my first year I’ve noticed a bunch of good, hard-working and committed young men with a winning attitude who enjoy competing.”
Second baseman Brady Cusson and center fielder Ryan Bell also are veterans in the Lewiston lineup.
On the flip side, Oxford Hills doesn’t have that kind of experience in camp after graduating 10 seniors, including seven starters, from a team that reached the Class A East semifinals.
Catcher Matt Smith, who batted .324, and outfielder Brady LaFrance are the only everyday returnees.
“A lot of these kids went deep in the state tournament with both Legion and Junior Legion last summer, so they can play,” Oxford Hills coach Shane Slicer said. “It’s a matter of adjusting to another level of competition.”
Seniors Will Frank and Aiden Heikkinen and junior Blake Slicer, the coach’s son, bolster the pitching staff.
The Vikings will be one of the last teams in the region to have their home field ready for play this season. The low-lying diamond at Gouin Complex is traditionally slow to dry.
“We’ll get some scrimmages in. We need to,” Slicer said. “There’s a lot of work to be done. We’ll compete. Right now I’d say we’re middle of the road with a lot of other teams.”
Mt. Blue has perhaps the highest expectations of any local team.
The Cougars made both the high school playoffs and the American Legion state tournament as Franklin County, and pitching ace Colton Lawrence returns along with dependable No. 2 Amos Herrin.
Eight seniors, including six returning starters, welcomed new coach Christian Boileau.
“You can look for us to turn the corner this season and be a legitimate contender,” Boileau said.
The consensus is that everyone in the league will be chasing the top two of Bangor and Messalonskee once again, with Lawrence, Brunswick and Cony also in the playoff mix.
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