The Greely High baseball coaching staff can boast something not many, if any, high schools in the state can claim.

The Rangers have a head coach, Derek Soule, who has won two Class B state titles; an assistant coach, Bob Anthoine, who won two state titles as head coach at Greely from 1986-99, and a freshmen coach, Mort Soule, Derek’s father, who won a Class A state title as a head coach at Deering in 1993.

That’s five state titles as head coaches among three coaches on the staff.

Soule is in his 11th season as head coach for Greely, which has won Class B state titles in two of the last three seasons. His teams have been to the Western Maine final six times in the last 10 years.

Anthoine, who was Soule’s high school coach, coached 14 seasons and won a school-record 171 games, including 20 state tournament victories, also a record. Anthoine directed the Rangers to a state title in 1997 and another in 1999, his final season. He was inducted into the Greely Baseball Hall of Fame in its inaugural 2007 year.

The elder Soule has been a head coach at North Yarmouth Academy, Deering and Cape Elizabeth. He won the 1963 Telegram League batting title as a slick-fielding shortstop at Deering. He continued his baseball career at Bowdoin College and was a longtime batting leader in the Portland Twilight League. Soule, a Latin teacher, was inducted into the Maine Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991.

Greely pitching coach Miles Hunt hasn’t won any state titles as a varsity coach, but he did play on Anthoine’s state title teams. As a senior in 2000, Hunt had a 6-0 record as a pitcher and was a first-team all-Western Maine Conference selection. He continued his career at Dickinson (Pa.) College and was a player/coach in the Twilight League before moving to the over-25 Southern Maine Men’s Baseball League as a player/coach. His team won the league title last season.

 

WESTBROOK HAS been involved in three one-run games of the five it has played. The Blue Blazes are 3-2. Westbrook is off to a slower start than expected but should bounce back.

After losing a 5-4 eight-inning game to Bonny Eagle last week, the Blazes rebounded with a 12-2 win over Noble on Tuesday.

The Blazes were ranked as the top team in the area in preseason but graduated several quality players. They have been tough to replace.

Right-hander Sean Murphy, recovering from shoulder irritation, hasn’t pitched and won’t be able to until next week, although he’s been a key designated hitter.

The combination of Scott Heath and Murphy on the mound should give the newcomers a chance to adjust.

Westbrook doesn’t have the speed of last year’s team but has plenty of power. It might have to wait for big innings rather than creating opportunities on the bases.

“We have to get much better defensively if we’re going to be a contender,” said Coach Mike Rutherford.

“The kids are hitting. Last year we won the close games early but struggled late in the season. This season we’ve struggled early.

“Hopefully we’ll finish strong, reversing last year’s trend. Whoever gets hot in June is going to win it.”

 

SINCE LOSING to Cheverus 5-4 in the opener, Deering has made just one error in five games.

 

CAPE ELIZABETH rallied to defeat Greely 6-5 in a game between unbeaten Western Class B teams Monday.

Trailing 5-3 heading into the bottom of the fourth inning, the Capers scored three runs in the fifth and sixth to win.

“Cape put together a series of clutch hits,” said Greely Coach Derek Soule.

“We got the first two batters out in the sixth. There were a lot of deep counts but we couldn’t put them away.

“Cape has a fast and athletic team and they swing the bats well one through nine in the order. They had nine hits and none of them were cheap. It was a big Heal point game. It could make the difference of several seeds at the end of the season in the standings.”

Cape is now 6-0, joining Yarmouth (6-0) and York (4-0) as the unbeaten teams in the Western Maine Conference.

Right behind them is Falmouth (4-1). Although it lost two straight games, Greely (4-2) can’t be counted out as a contender.

 

Staff Writer Tom Chard can be reached at 791-6419 or at:

tchard@pressherald.com

 

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