MONMOUTH — Continuity is a theme for the Monmouth Academy baseball team this spring. There’s also a lot of new faces — and on Monday, the Mustangs had an interesting mix of both.
The Mustangs return all but one starter from last season, but they were missing eight players who were in Portland for a Future Business Leaders of America Conference. The team made up for those numbers, somewhat, with six new freshmen, as well as three transfers from St. Dominic Academy.
“It’s actually the best because the freshmen are here, and we’ve got kids who’ve transferred in that aren’t familiar with how we do things,” said Monmouth coach Eric Palleschi. “We can take some time with them to go through what we do, and when the rest come back in, everybody will be up to speed.”
Monday marked the unofficial start of the 2026 spring sports season as baseball and softball pitchers and catchers and lacrosse goalies were eligible to begin conditioning drills. Most teams throughout the state took to their gymnasiums because snow blanketed their communities outdoors.
“We’ve got some new arms in and some new (pitching),” said Kyle LePage, one of Monmouth’s few returning seniors who was present Monday. “These kids have no idea what program we do, so it’s kind of new to them. We’re kind of teaching them, which is kind of a fun role, being teachers.”
Lewiston softball aims for deeper run
Before every season begins, Lewiston softball coach Ryan Cormier has his players fill out a questionnaire to solidify the team’s goals.
This year, he said 95% of the players included advancing past the quarterfinals round of the playoffs, where the Blue Devils have lost the past two seasons.
“With pretty much the whole program wanting that, it’s going to be easy to get everybody on board and wanting that as a team,” Cormier said. “So I think the key is, once we get into the flow of everything, once we know what our team identity is, we’re going to focus on that, strengthen that, get stronger throughout the entire season and hopefully we can check that goal off for all the players at the end of the season and see how far we can go.”
Second time around the crease
Longtime Brunswick boys lacrosse coach Don Glover first floated the idea of preseason goalie conditioning work about 15-20 years ago. If players were expected to stop shots upward of 80-90 mph during the season, it should be in everyone’s best interest that those players had an extra week to safely reacclimate, or safely learn, how to do so.
Ahead of last spring, Thornton Academy boys coach Ryan Hersey and longtime Morse girls coach Linda Levesque, both liaisons on the MPA’s lacrosse committee, gathered enough coach support to bring Glover’s idea across the finish line. And on the first day of year two, Hersey has yet to hear a negative comment about the extra week of practice.
Besides allowing returners enough reps to shake off any winter rust, Hersey says this week is crucial for giving inexperienced goalies or players brand new to the sport the confidence necessary to make a save.
“I thought I did great,” Thornton senior goalie Colin Pennell said. “I think I’ve still got the hang of it. … It’s been super helpful. I definitely don’t think I was ready (to start the season) those first two years, and doing this also boosted my confidence.”
Thornton boys working on discipline, little details
With an 18-person senior class and over 70 players expected to make up three teams, this year’s Thornton Academy program is larger than last year. Winning a state championship helps grow interest around the school, but it also grows the target from other schools.
Pennell, one of the main reasons why the Golden Trojans upset Falmouth in the 2025 Class A title game, believes this year’s varsity squad can continue its success as long as it remains disciplined. This week is the first opportunity.
The four goalies in the program worked on hand-eye coordination, reaction speed and footwork drills before taking about 10 minutes of live shots from Hersey, goalie coach Chris Driscoll and assistant Chad LeBreck. Each set of reps was filmed and uploaded to Hudl. On Tuesday, the coaches and the goalies, who should have already watched the film, will go over form and technique.
Hersey expects the players to be their own toughest critic. Pennell said he’ll be looking for “the little details” that will help him improve his reaction speed.
The Maine spring sports season is under way. Here’s what we learned on Day 1
