Morgin Cossar knew she had big shoes to fill when she followed Jenn Plourde as the Old Town High School softball coach.
In eight seasons, Plourde guided the Coyotes to a 131-20 record and three Class B state championships. She stepped down after taking a job as a physical education teacher at Corinth’s Central High School after 10 years as a special education tech in Orono.
But the Coyotes have gotten off to a good start under Cossar’s leadership with four straight wins to begin its season after last year’s season was canceled due to the pandemic. It comes just as Class B North became wide open since Brewer High School, which one the two previous Class B state championships, moved up to Class A.
Pitchers Abbie Roy and Emma Crews said the transition to a new coach has gone well.
“We miss [Plourde] but things have gone pretty smoothly. [Cossar] makes practices really fun,” senior Roy said. “It has been different. We didn’t know what [Cossar] was looking for and it was a different atmosphere. But things have gone really well.”
“We love her. We have an amazing team. We have a good dynamic,” junior Crews said.
Cossar graduated from Old Town in 2008 after a three-sport career. She was familiar with some of the players since she had been coaching at the Dr. Lewis S. Libby School (grades K-8) in Milford. She is a special education tech in the Old Town school department.
She inherited a team that has seven seniors, but little experience. Roy believes the only other seniors besides herself who saw some varsity playing time two years ago were Miranda Leclair, Reagan Glidden and Hannah Sirois.
Cossar admitted that following Plourde is a sizable task but she likes what she has seen from her Coyotes so far.
She said Crews, Roy and Glidden supply the team with a “solid” pitching rotation that has allowed only eight runs through their first four games.
Cossar feels she has good balance throughout her lineup with everybody being able to swing the bats and there is “a lot of speed on the basepaths” that she intends to take advantage of.
She used 14 players in last week’s 5-3 win over previously undefeated Foxcroft Academy of Dover-Foxcroft.
Sirois and senior Mia Smith each saw duty behind the plate. Sophomore Gabby Cote started at first and was joined around the diamond by junior second baseman Logan Gardner, junior shortstop Jayda Roy and freshman third baseman Saige Evans.
Leclair and fellow senior Delani McLaughlin were accompanied by freshman Danica Brown in the outfield.
Crews, Roy and Glidden all pitched in the game.
Other players in the lineup include senior Meghan Small, junior Kamoi Turner and freshman Alexis Degrasse.
Cossar said because the team has depth, she can move players in and out of the lineup and go with the ones who are swinging the bats the best.
Crews said she isn’t going to go so far as to predict that Old Town will win the Class B state title, but said the team is working real hard and has a legitimate chance to be in the hunt for it.
“The girls are hungry because they didn’t have a season last year. But so is everybody else,” she said.
Old Town will play again on Wednesday when the Coyotes travel to take on Class A Bangor at 4:15 p.m.