The junior delivered on the bump, and when he wasn’t pitching he produced at the plate as well.
Playing for one of the best teams in the region, and standing out on what was a talented roster, Norcross-Plourde earned his stripes in being named the Sun Journal All-Region Baseball Player of the Year.
“I thought our whole pitching staff really did a great job for us. But he was our big-game pitcher,” EL coach Dave Jordan said of Norcross-Plourde. “We didn’t win all of them, but we won quite a few of our games. And he always gave us his best effort when he went out on the mound.”
The big right-hander finished the regular season with a 4-0 record, and also earned one save in relief. He allowed just five earned runs in that span for a 0.91 earned-run average, all while striking out 60 batters and walking 22.
“Just pound the ball inside, throw hard,” Norcross-Plourde said of his game plan every time out. “And my get-out pitches were pretty good.”
Norcross-Plourde’s wins came against playoff teams Oxford Hills and Messalonskee, and twice he beat Mt. Blue.
He also started on the mound in a regular-season win against eventual state champ Bangor, but didn’t factor into the decision. In that game he silenced the Rams offense and helped deal Maine Mr. Baseball Trevor DeLaite one of the two losses of his high-school career.
“Any time we had him on the mound we felt like we had a really good chance of winning,” Jordan said.
Norcross-Plourde scored the only run in the win over Bangor after drawing the lone walk against DeLaite.
Jordan called Norcross-Plourde a “smart, headsy player.”
At the plate, the heart-of-the-order hitter collected 20 hits in 48 at-bats, for a .417 batting average. Among the hits were three doubles, two triples and a home run. He drove in 18 runs and scored 21 more. He walked (eight times) more than he struck out (five), and was successful on all eight of his stolen-base attempts.
“Just stick to what my coaches taught me, and try to pound the ball up the middle,” Norcross-Plourde said of his success at the plate this year.
He took a coaching lesson to heart before the season even started. In a preseason scrimmage against Scarborough, Norcross-Plourde hit a fly ball for an out, and said one of his coaches “got on” him for not running the bases hard.
“I think that started all expectations right there,” Norcross-Plourde said. “He called me out, and that really set the tone early on.”
Jordan said even though Norcross-Plourde had a “solid” sophomore season, there was a “huge jump in his ability this year.”
The EL coach also said the best is yet to come for who is “always putting effort in to get stronger, to get faster, to learning the game.”
wkramlich@sunjournal.com
2016 Sun Journal All-Region Baseball
FIRST TEAM
Jarod Norcross-Plourde, Edward Little, Jr., P/IF
Drew Lashua, Edward Little, Sr., IF/C
Gavin Arsenault, Dirigo, Sr., P/IB
Hunter Richardson, Monmouth, Jr., P/IF
Nick Sanborn, Monmouth, Sr., P/OF
Gavin Bates, St. Dom’s, So., P/IF
Tyler Halls, Lisbon, Jr., P/OF
Blake Slicer, Oxford Hills, Sr., P
Dalton Therrien, Oak Hill, Sr., SS
Jake Spinhirn, Oxford Hills, Sr., IF
SECOND TEAM
Julian Kirouac, Leavitt, Sr., P
Ricky Thompson, Rangeley, Jr., P/IF
Connor Nilsson, Oak Hill, Sr., OF
Tim Fitzgerald, Mtn. Valley, Sr., Util.
Austin Wing, Lewiston, Sr., P/IF
Tanner Wheeler, Telstar, Jr., P/IF
Gage Cote, Monmouth, Sr., IF
Tyler Blanchard, Edward Little, Jr., OF
Jacob Kraske, Buckfield, Jr., Util.
Nick Lerette, Lisbon, Jr., C/1B
HONORABLE MENTION
Damien St. Pierre, EL, Jr; Brandon Varney, EL, Sr; Noah Preble, SM, Jr; Jacob Hickey, Win, Jr; Jake Wiseman, Pol, Jr; John Henry Villanueva, GNG, Jr; Troy Johnson, Ox Hills, Soph; Kyle LaRochelle, Range, Soph; Chandler Harris, Mon, Sr; Ryley Austin, Lis, Jr.
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