Baseball
Coach: Rocky Myers (16th season)
Spring 2006 Record: Finished 16-4 and reached the Western Maine Class A final.
Players to watch: Seniors Sean Grandmaison (P/3B), Andrew Dean (P/LF), Jon Mitchell (1B), Marc Clements (P/INF); Juniors Joel Mundy (SS/2B), Mate Stugis (P/RF), Jon Dahms (C).
Coach’s Outlook: “Hopefully we gain confidence early to be able to make a strong playoff run,” said Myers. “Defensively we should hold our own. Scoring runs may be difficult. If the seniors produce we could be a bad draw in the playoffs.”
First game: Saturday, April 21, at Westbrook at 1 p.m.
Softball
Coach: Pete Walker (12th season)
Spring 2006 Record: Finished 11-7 after falling to South Portland in the West A quarterfinals.
Players to watch: Senior Captains Tammy Arsenault (P) and Caitlin Butterfield (3B); sophomore Rachele Burns.
Coach’s Outlook: “We play in a very competitive league. We should hold our own,” said Walker. “We have a veteran team coming back. It will be tough, but hopefully we’ll be in the mix.”
First game: Friday, April 20, versus Sanford at 1 p.m.
Boys’ lacrosse
Coach: Ken Templeton (3rd season)
Spring 2006 Record: Finished 5-8 and lost to Chevrus in the regional quarterfinals.
Players to watch: Senior Brian Plowman (goalie); Juniors Duncan Allen (midfield) and Brendan Ryan (attack).
Coach’s Outlook: “After a season last year with many close games that didn’t go our way, the kids seem really committed to doing the little things in practice to tip those games in our favor,” said Templeton. “I have been impressed with the work ethic of the players in practice and the dramatic improvements of many players in the off-season. The SMAA is an excellent league to play in, because the games are so competitive. Unlike other conferences in lacrosse, we don’t have very many lopsided games. I hope that our speed as a team, and our experienced defense brings us success this year.”
First game: Tuesday, April 24 versus Noble at 4 p.m.
Girls’ lacrosse
Coach: Sarah Dolley (3rd season)
Spring 2006 Record: Ended the year at 8-4 with a loss to Greely in the regional quarterfinals.
Coach’s Outlook: “We are going to have a challenging first game against Bonny Eagle,” said Dolley. “We have not played BE in our past two years as a varsity sport, so we are unsure what we are up against exactly. We do know that BE has some championship banners in their gym.”
First game: Thursday, April 26 at Bonny Eagle at 4 p.m.
Boys’ tennis
Coach: Viet Ly (3rd seaon)
Spring 2006 Record: Finished 5-8 and lost to Windham in the West A semifinals.
Players to watch: Aaron Burgeron, Isaac Pease and Kiet Thai.
Coach’s Outlook: “We should be about mid-pack,” said Ly. “There are 14 or 15 teams in the league and we should be in the top eight. We did well last year upsetting Deering in the playoffs. Hopefully those trends continue.”
First match: Monday, April 23, at Biddeford at 3:30 p.m.
Girls’ tennis
Coach: Sonja Frey
How did last year end: Lost to Sanford in the West A quarterfinals.
Players to watch: Kate Bowring, Libby Johnson and Kelsey Wilson.
Outlook: The Rams have a solid core of returning singles players and should make some noise this season. They will look to make it a little further into the tournament after last year’s quarterfinal exit.
First match: Monday, April 23, versus Biddeford at 3:30 p.m.
Boys’ track
Coach: John Wilkinson (23rd season)
Spring 2006 Record: 12-1
How did last year end: The Rams finished seventh in the Class A state championship meet.
Athlete’s to watch: Seniors Josh Maxwell (hurdles/jumps), Tim Millett (distance); Junior Justin Villacci (sprints).
Coach’s Outlook: “We have a very strong team coming off a good indoor season,” said Wilkinson. “We have most of the same kids on this team. Indoors, we were first in the SMAA and second in the state. The outlook for us is strong.”
Josh Maxwel is back to defend his state title he won in the high jump.l
First meet: Tuesday, April 24, with Bonny Eagle and Cheverus at Noble.
Girls’ track
Coach: John Caterina (15th season)
Spring 2006 Record: 11-3 regular season and a fourth place finish in the Class A state meet.
Athletes to watch: Seniors Katie Bola (pole vault), Ashley Michaud (jumps/throws), Jessie Hawkes (racewalk/800); Juniors Leigh Maniscalco (sprints/hurdles/jumps), Alyson Fearon (sprints), Corey Perkins (jumps), Athena Beaulieu (jumps), Samantha Owens (jumps).
Coach’s Outlook: “Gorham has a large yet young squad. After finishing fourth in last year’s state meet, we should have the talent and depth to compete for a postition among the top teams in the state meet,” said Caterina. “It will be very difficult to compete with a very talented and veteran Scarborough team at the state championship level with so much youth. Though we are very young, our athleticism should lead to continuous improvement throughout the season and lead us to being one of the top girls teams in the state.”
Leigh Maniscalco is back to defend her state championship in the 300 hurdles
First meet: Wednesday, April 25, versus McAuley, Cheverus and Bonny Eagle.
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