Not only have Penobscot Valley Conference players, coaches and schools been busy pursuing success on the field of play, they also have been busy helping others.
PVC president Brian Gaw, athletic administrator and a teacher-coach at School Administrative District 4 in Guilford, recently solicited information from member schools regarding their charitable fundraising efforts during the 2015-2016 school year.
“I told them, even if your school only raised a hundred bucks, let me know,” he said, “because somebody, I guarantee you, was very appreciative for a hundred dollars.”
Not all schools responded to the request for information, but Gaw said “a very good percentage” did, and those reported fundraising efforts alone totaled $36,876 to be donated to local, state and national charitable organizations.
“Not that anyone is looking for their name in the paper or prizes or awards or recognition,” Gaw said. “I genuinely think people do this because it’s the right thing to do. It’s a feel-good thing, and you know at the end of the day that you’ve helped somebody in a tangible way.”
Groups receiving funds raised by PVC student-athletes, coaches and schools include the Aliza Jean Family Cancer Foundation, All In For Addie, American Cancer Society, Bangor Area Homeless Shelter, Beth C. Wright Cancer Resource Center, Pennies for Patients, Relay for Life, Sarah’s House of Maine, Spruce Run-Womancare Alliance and the Susan G. Komen foundation.
“I think this just highlights how powerful sports can be outside of a court or a field,” Gaw said. “This is just one more thing that’s not an athletic achievement but shows that athletes can have a lot of power to influence and help a lot of people they don’t even know.”
Three north teams suffer first loss
Monday was a rough afternoon for undefeated high school baseball teams in the northern part of the state, as three of the six clubs in the region that began the day with unblemished records left the diamond with their first losses of the spring — all on the road.
Class B Winslow fell to once-beaten Oceanside of Rockland/Thomaston 4-2, Class C George Stevens Academy of Blue Hill lost at Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln 9-4, and Class D Fort Fairfield was defeated at Class C Fort Kent 9-5.
Fast starts were key to each of those victories, with 7-1 Oceanside jumping out to a 3-0 first-inning lead, 5-3 Mattanawcook building a 6-0 lead through two innings and 3-4 Fort Kent taking a 4-0 first-inning lead.
Those results halved the number of undefeated teams remaining in the four North classes.
Two of the remaining unbeatens are in Class A, with Edward Little of Auburn and two-time defending state champion Bangor ranked 1-2 with identical 8-0 records entering Wednesday’s play.
Both teams won their games Monday, with Bangor earning a 9-2 road win at Camden Hills of Rockport while EL topped visiting Lawrence of Fairfield 7-3.
Should those teams remain unbeaten, Bangor is scheduled to host EL in Game 14 of their respective seasons on Monday, May 23.
The third remaining unbeaten through Tuesday’s game was Class C leader Houlton, also 8-0 after a 14-3 victory at Lee Academy on Monday. Coach Jim Castner’s Shiretowners, with just three seniors on a 17-player roster, have averaged 9.5 runs per game through the midpoint of their schedule.
Four baseball teams from the southern part of the state also were unbeaten through Tuesday’s play: Falmouth (7-0) and Portland (6-0) in Class A and Monmouth Academy (7-0) and Madison (8-0) in Class C.