HOULTON, Maine — A year ago, the Houlton baseball team enjoyed tremendous success on the diamond under the tutelage of fourth-year coach Jim Castner.
The Shires finished 11-3 in the regular season, and 12-4 overall. Houlton was the No. 6 seed in Eastern Class C and beat Piscataquis Community High School, 9-0, in the preliminary round, but fell to No. 3 Mattanawcook Academy, 4-1, in the quarterfinals.
However, the Shires lost a bundle of talented players to graduation from that team, including Jake Drew, Dan Howe, Noah Holmes, Ethan Bouchard, Cameron Clark and Nick Hagan.
So how will Coach Castner fill that void? That will be the biggest question as the season gets underway.
“The seniors that we graduated were some of the best hitters in the league,” the coach said. “As a team last year we hit .410 with an on base percentage of .495. I think we have some good hitting talent this year, but it we want to do just as well, if not better, than last year’s great numbers.
Members of the 2016 squad include seniors Ryan Dee (pitcher/second base), Connor Grant (outfield) and Billy Phillips (first base/pitcher); juniors Nick Botting (outfield/pitcher), Cameron Graham (pitcher/outfield) and Thomas Prescott (second base/outfield); sophomores Isia Bouchard (first base/outfield/pitcher), Colby Callnan, (outfield/pitcher), Zack Hagan (catcher), Pat Howe (outfield/pitcher), Nick Perfitt (shortstop/pitcher) and Morgan Phillips (third base/catcher); and freshman Ryder Graham (third base).
Dee and Phillips are captains for the squad and will be called upon to provide key veteran leadership. Coach Castner said Dee and Graham should also provide a potent one-two punch on the mound.
“Ryan and Cameron each had strong years that I think could build to exceptional years on the mound,” he said. “Ryan ended the regular season with a fantastic start against Presque Isle and Cameron ended his season with a no-hitter in our prelim game.”
The Shires should have enough capable arms to toe the rubber this season, which is a luxury many squads do not have.
“I feel like we not only have a good number of pitchers that can throw strikes, but quality arms too,” Castner said. “Every coach has the ultimate goal of a state championship. We need to incrementally work our way to that goal with small, but no less important, goals.”
Achieving those goals include securing victories over key opponents like Mattanawcook Academy, Presque Isle, Calais and Caribou, the coach said.
“Then our goal is to host a playoff game and then to continue to win from there,” he added.
Assisting Castner are Jamie Hunt and Eric Sucy. Houlton is scheduled to begin its season — exactly where it ended — against Mattanawcook Academy in Lincoln on Wednesday, April 20, 2016, at 1 p.m.
