Ellsworth High School senior pitcher Tyler Hellum figured there would be an adjustment period for her team this season.
The Eagles have a new coach in Brandi Ensworth and started five freshmen in Thursday’s game at Hermon, and have just two seniors on the roster.
But that adjustment has gone very smoothly.
In fact, Ellsworth’s 6-4 win over Hermon improved its record to 6-0 and it is atop the Class B North Heal Points standings. Dating back to last year, the Eagles have now won 20 of their last 21 regular season games.
“We lost a lot of seniors so I thought it was going to be hard on us. But the freshmen have come in and taken over and are doing way better than I thought they would,” said Hellum, who added that Ensworth has united the team in its competitive fire.
Ensworth is replacing Jake Hackett, who stepped down after guiding the Eagles to a 26-9 record in his two seasons.
Hellum has been one of the reasons behind the success. She tossed a five-hitter with 12 strikeouts to beat Hermon and also had a pair of singles and drove in a run while batting fifth in the order.
The only other senior is second baseman Alicia Havey.
Despite their inexperience, the Eagles have shown the ability to win close games, winning their last three games by a total of four runs.
They shut out perennial contender Old Town 1-0, edged Class C power Bucksport 5-4 and then hung on to top Hermon, another Class B contender.
Ellsworth reached the Class B semifinals last season before losing to Nokomis of Newport 7-0.
“You couldn’t ask for a better group of competitors,” said Ensworth, a former assistant softball coach at Blue Hill’s George Stevens Academy, where she was also the girls basketball coach.
The five freshmen who started for Ellsworth on Thursday included right fielder Anna Stevens, catcher Sophie Lynch, first baseman Lily Bean, designated player Jayden Sullivan and third baseman Abby Radel.
Sullivan produced a pair of hits including a run-scoring double; Lynch drove in what proved to be the winning run with a two-run single in the seventh and Stevens had a base hit.
Lynch hits third in the order.
They have a smooth-fielding sophomore shortstop in Aaliyah Manning, who also has good pop in her bat and hits in the two spot.
“She’s a very strong player,” Ensworth said.
Junior Morgan Duhaime starts at second or first and is the clean-up hitter. She tripled against Hermon. Sophomore Reece Hellum, Tyler’s sister, gets playing time at third along with Radel.
Junior Hanna Wagstaff plays left field and is also one of the three pitchers Ensworth uses along with Hellum and Stevens. Junior Alex Bivins plays center field and Stevens and junior Annabelle Hackett are the right fielders.
Juniors Brooklynn Carter and Kaya Gray and sophomore Paige Johnson will also see some playing time.
The offensive catalysts are Lynch, Manning, Tyler Hellum and Duhaime but Ensworth said everyone can hit pretty well.
“They’re a very good team,” said Hermon coach Steph Biberstein.
Ellsworth will play again on Monday at 4:30 when it hosts Old Town.