As Ellsworth High School’s highly successful baseball coach, Dan Curtis had the opportunity to coach he and wife Shannon’s (Hamilton) three sons: Jackson, Hunter and Dawson.
But with Dawson following in his father and brothers’ footsteps by playing baseball at Bangor’s Husson University beginning this fall, Dan Curtis said it is time for him to spend more time following Dawson’s career and that meant stepping down as Ellsworth’s coach after 11 seasons.
Dan Curtis said he thought about his decision “long before” he made it.
“I really missed a lot of his younger career and I said to myself ‘he is going to go play in college and I’m going to chase him around.’ I’m trying to make up for it on the other end,” he said. “It has been super fulfilling and I think I’ve left the program in a good spot. I’m very confident the guys will take it and run with it. They just have to keep the car on the road.”
Curtis has been one of the state’s most successful coaches, leading his Eagles to at least 10 wins in all but one of his 11 seasons and guiding them to a string of seven Class B North championship game appearances, three regional titles and two state championships (2019, ‘22).
Curtis and his Eagles would have won a third title in 2025 but Greely of Cumberland Center rallied for five, two-out runs in the seventh inning to edge the Eagles 6-5.
Ellsworth went 16-2 this past season, losing to Hermon 5-2 in the Class B North semifinals.
Curtis said his 11 years as the head coach were fun.
“It has been a great time. I have received great school support from Ellsworth,” said Curtis, who played his high school baseball at Narraguagus High in Harrington and American Legion baseball for Trenton.
“It has been fun to see our success and how much it has meant to the community,” added Cherryfield native Curtis. “Our Little League program is super strong and all of our programs are strong. Virtually every kid plays some kind of summer baseball.”
Curtis also played soccer and basketball at Narraguagus but baseball was his first love and, after attending the University of Maine his freshman year, he transferred to Husson where he pitched his sophomore year and played left field as a junior and a senior.
Former University of Maine coach John Winkin was the assistant coach under John Kolasinski for his three years at Husson.
Curtis, the vice president for the Down East region of the Hammond Lumber Company, has coached at all different levels and said he wouldn’t rule out getting back into coaching some day.
“I can’t stay away from it completely,” he said.