Staff Writer

Spring is officially here, and with it comes another year of Scarborough High School spring sports. Beginning Monday, March 23, both the Red Storm baseball and softball teams will start gearing up for the 2009 season.

Third year baseball coach Jim Cronin said he will be looking for his team to improve on their 8-8 record last season. The Red Storm competed in the playoffs, but lost in the preliminary round to the Portland Bulldogs by a score of 4-3 in extra innings.

For this season, Cronin said he will count on his senior captains, pitcher Chris Bernard and shortstop and outfielder Jimmy Rouse to lead the team. 

He said Bernard, who received a scholarship to pitch for the University of Maine at Orono next season, is “a great all around kid,” who can hit and play any position on the baseball field.

Rouse, who has been recruited to play for Saint Joseph’s College in Standish next year, is a three-year varsity player for the Red Storm, Cronin said. He said Rouse is “speedy,” and had a good season of American Legion baseball last summer.

Cronin said he will also count on senior third baseman Ian Ramsdell, who won the Southwestern Maine Activities Association (SMAA) batting title last season with a .490 batting average.

“If I can get .350 [batting average from Ramsdell], I’ll be thrilled,” Cronin said. “He’s got some speed on the basepaths.”

Cronin said he is excited about the incoming group of freshmen ballplayers, and he said he will look to balance his team with both new and veteran players.

He said the Red Storm will need to improve defensively this season, as the team made errors in crucial situations last season. Cronin expects pitching and hitting to be solid again this season, as the Red Storm have improved from a .220 team batting average his first season to .320 last season.

Cronin said because of the weather, the team will begin the season by practicing indoors in the high school gymnasium. He said the team can work on hitting, pitching and infield defense indoors, but will not be able to work with outfielders, as fly balls cannot be hit in the gym.

Cronin said he expects Deering, Portland, Westbrook and Thornton Academy to be tough opponents for the Red Storm this season.

The baseball team will open the season April 25 against the Gorham Rams.

Head coach Tom Griffin of the girls’ softball team said the team had an undefeated 16-0 regular season last year and went far into the playoffs before losing in the Western Maine Class A Finals to the Biddeford Tigers.

Entering his 20th season, Griffin said he will have most of his starting lineup return this season, and will rely on the team’s seniors to lead the squad. Senior third baseman Katie Funk, the 2008 SMAA Player of the Year, will return, as well as senior second baseman Regan Brackett, senior shortstop Brianna Mancuso and senior first baseman Abby Pelletier.

Griffin said he also expects junior pitcher Melissa Dellatore, the SMAA Pitcher of the Year last season, and junior catcher Heather Carrier to play well this season.

Griffin said he will need to find more pitching behind Dellatore, as the Red Storm have lost two pitchers from last year’s team, and said he will look at three or four different players during spring training to fill those two positions. He said until the team begins practicing, he won’t know who the number two and three pitchers would be. Griffin said the team will also need to improve offensively to be Western Class A contenders.

Griffin said Biddeford, Gorham, South Portland and Cheverus will be difficult opponents this year.

“On any given day, Cheverus is as good as anyone,” Griffin said.

Griffin said the softball team will also have to start the spring indoors and will switch their practices between the Wentworth Intermediate School cafeteria and Maine Hits, an indoor softball training facility located in Scarborough, to practice. He said the team will also travel to Florida for training during spring break.

Griffin said he enjoys practicing indoors, because it forces the players to focus on fundamental play and repetition. He said the outdoors can be “distracting” during the spring because of the mud and the cold.

The Red Storm softball team will begin their 2009 season April 24 against the Bonny Eagle Scots.