George Stevens Academy’s 1-0 victory over Orono in Wednesday night’s Eastern Maine Class C baseball final not only advanced the Eagles to Saturday’s state championship game, it was Dan Kane’s 300th coaching win.
Kane is now 300-93 in 20 seasons at the Blue Hill school, with three state championships and nine Eastern Maine titles to his teams’ credit.
“It’s a tribute to all the good young players I’ve had the opportunity to work with,” said Kane.
Kane was a standout at the University of Maine during his playing days in the mid-1980s, twice playing on Black Bear squads that competed in the College World Series.
An outfielder and designated hitter for Dr. John Winkin’s club, Kane led Maine in batting as both a freshman and a senior and was named to the 1986 NCAA regional all-tournament team and as the 1987 ECAC North player of the year.
He was inducted into the University of Maine Sports Hall of Fame in 2005.
Kane entered the coaching ranks in 1988 as junior varsity and assistant varsity baseball coach under Jack Scott at Ellsworth High School while completing his student teaching before taking the varsity reins at George Stevens in 1989.
He coached a senior-laden Eagles squad to the school’s first Eastern Maine championship in his initial season with the program.
Since then GSA has been a consistent contender in the Class C ranks, winning state championships in 1997, 2003 and 2004 and additional Eastern C titles in 1994, 1996, 2002, 2005 and 2009.
Kane has missed just one game during his 20 years with the Eagles, several years ago when his son won a state bass fishing contest to earn the family a trip to Louisiana. Assistant coach Bill Gray filled in and led GSA to victory.
GSA, 16-3 this spring, will attempt to add to its state championship count Saturday when it faces Western C champion Saint Dominic of Auburn (18-1) at 2 p.m. at Mansfield Stadium in Bangor.
Those teams have split two previous meetings in the state final, with GSA defeating the Saints 12-2 in 2004 and the Saints gaining revenge with a 2-1 victory in 2005.
Mr. Baseball finalists announced
Two high school baseball standouts from Eastern Maine schools and two from Western Maine are finalists for the 18th annual Dr. John W. Winkin Award symbolic of the state’s Mr. Baseball.
Finalists selected by the Maine Baseball Coaches Association are Pat Thibodeau, a pitcher-outfielder from Caribou; Scott Rogers, an outfielder from Mount Ararat of Topsham; Chris Bernard, a pitcher-first baseman from Scarborough; and Nate Martin, an outfielder from Greely of Cumberland Center.
The University of Maine-bound Thibodeau was a four-year starter at Caribou who batted better than .500 each season as well as being a four-time all-conference choice. As a senior he batted .581 with four home runs, 24 stolen bases and 29 RBIs, a .658 on-base percentage and a .986 slugging percentage.
He also went 5-2 on the mound for Caribou this spring with a 2.01 earned run average and 38 strikeouts in 33 innings pitched.
Rogers, a first-team Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class A West all-star, led Mount Ararat to a 10-7 record and a berth in the Eastern Maine Class A quarterfinals. The brother of 2004 Mr. Baseball Mark Rogers, Scott Rogers will continue his baseball career at Division II Southern New Hampshire University.
Bernard led Scarborough to a berth in the Western Maine Class A championship game, and was named most valuable player and most valuable pitcher in the Southern Maine Activities Association. The righthander went 9-2 on the mound this spring, and during the regular season struck out 67 batters in 48 innings while com-piling a 0.88 ERA.
Bernard will attend UMaine in the fall.
Martin, a senior center fielder, is an all-Western Maine Conference outfield who has established a career stolen-base record at Greely. He also has been integral to the Rangers winning their second Western Maine Class B title in the last three seasons, and a berth in Saturday’s state final against Gardiner.
The winner of the Winkin award, sponsored by Webber Energy Fuels, will be announced just before the annual Maine Senior All-Star game to be played June 26 at 7 p.m. at Mahaney Diamond on the campus of Saint Joseph’s College in Standish.
