Oftentimes, looking back on any given year in sports can seem a bit repetitive.
Think about it. Just look at the Midcoast and we can say a lot of things that we have mentioned over the past several years. There were programs that once again thrived, like Richmond High School athletics across the board, the success of the Long Reach Swim Club. Nationally, the New England Patriots (yes, another Super Bowl title for Tom Brady, Bill Belichick and company) were successful again.
Here is a look back on 2017, with 2018 just around the corner:
Champs/close calls
Then there was the New England Patriots on the first Sunday of February. Down 28-3 to the Atlanta Falcons in the Super Bowl, there was no way Brady was going to bring his team back. Think again! The Patriots rallied, forced overtime, and eventually came away with a 34-28 victory. By the way, this was the first Super Bowl decided in overtime.
On the mat, Mt. Ararat/Brunswick wrestler Robert Hetherman won the State Class A title at 170 pounds, and as the calendar switched to March, the Long Reach Swim Club won its 27th consecutive YMCA championship.
The Brunswick girls basketball team went on a run, taking Class A South postseason wins over Kennebunk, York and Greely on its way to the State Class A title game. Yes, the Dragons fell to Messalonskee at the Augusta Civic Center, but Sam Farrell’s squad provided a lot of thrills in 2017.
Andrew Morong of Bath led his Central Maine Community College of Auburn women’s basketball team to its first national title, while Lisbon, after coming all so close in the first two seasons of Unified Basketball, captured a state championship on its third try in a 40-37 thriller over Bucksport.
March ended with a former Mt. Ararat High School wrestler ending a journey, with Lisa Nowak inducted into the New England Hall of Fame. Nowak, for those who don’t remember, was one of the first women in Maine to compete in the men’s-dominated world of wrestling, even taking her fight to court to earn that right.
In April, North Carolina returned to the top of the men’s college basketball world, downing Gonzaga in the title game, 71-65. A few days later, Spain’s Sergio Garcia ended years of close calls by winning his first major — The Masters!
The Maine Red Claws might not have an NBA D-League title, but the team did pick up its first postseason series win, downing Fort Wayne.
The Boston Celtics, after a scare in the first round from the eighth-seeded Chicago Bulls, won Game 7 against the Washington Wizards to advance to the Eastern Conference final. Cleveland made short work of the C’s from there.
Mt. Ararat boys tennis player Nick Mathieu made it two straight Schoolboy titles, while the Lisbon boys track team captured the Mountain Valley Conference Championship for the 12th straight campaign to end May.
June, as always, was a busy month. I have to start with the Brunswick boys lacrosse team, who literally slammed the “Dorr” on Scarborough in the State Class A Championship in Portland. Josh Dorr scored the overtime game-winner for a 17- 16 Dragons win. It was certainly one to remember for Don Glover’s squad.
The rest of June featured several close championship calls. The Lisbon baseball team suffered another devastating loss. Leading 3-0 in the seventh inning of their first Class C title game, the Greyhounds had the title in their grasp. Then, Orono rallied, scoring four runs to walk off with a 4-3 win, breaking the hearts of these talented Lisbon players a few days after downing Monmouth Academy, 12-5 in the regional final. The year before, Lisbon lost in walk-off fashion to Sacopee Valley in the Class C South regional final, not to mention many of these athletes suffered through a tough championship loss in football in 2016.
Elsewhere, Richmond softball saw its 88-game winning streak come to an end with a 4-0 loss to Penobscot Valley in the State Class D title game.
The Brunswick girls tennis team advanced to the state championship with a 3-2 regional final win over Lewiston before falling to Falmouth, 5-0, giving the Yachtsmen a 157-match winning streak. The Dragon boys fell to Lewiston in the regional final (3- 2), along with regional losses by the Richmond baseball team (6-2 to Searsport) and Mt. Ararat baseball squad (3-0 to Bangor).
Another highlight of the spring sports season was the Morse softball team, which advanced to the postseason and downed Oak Hill, 9-4, in the quarterfinals, a big step forward for the Shipbuilders.
In national news, the Golden State Warriors gave Kevin Durant an NBA title — a 4-1 series win over Cleveland. And, the Pittsburgh Penguins made it back-to-back NHL championships — a 4-2 series win over the upstart Nashville Predators.
The summer is usually quiet in area sports, but not 2017. First off, sports reporter Christian Sandler departed after a successful year-and-a-half of TR sports coverage, with Eric Maxim moving over from the Sun Journal.
At Brunswick Golf Club, South Freeport native Jack Wyman held off the field in a cold and rainy final round to capture the Maine Amateur title with a two-stroke victory.
The Lisbon baseball U-12 team nearly came home with a New England regional title, finishing second, and the 1998/99 soccer squad from Seacoast United captured a national title in Westfield, Indiana.
In August, the popular James D. Rouillard Tournament turned 20-years old (hard to believe), while St. Dom’s joined up with Lisbon to form a co-op in high school football under first-year coach Chris Kates. Later in August, the supposed “Fight of the Year” took place as Connor McGregor battled Floyd Meyweather, who expectedly won the match against the game UFC combatant.
On the links, Dustin Johnson won the FedEx Cup title and the $10 million that goes with it after a playoff victory over fan favorite Jordan Spieth, the 2017 British Open champ.
The fall season kicked off with Kates’ Greyhounds winning his debut over Bucksport, while Bowdoin College’s Whittier Field reopened (a 41-14 football loss to Middlebury).
A feel-good story came from the volleyball court, where the Brunswick/Mt. Ararat squad won its first match in season two of the new varsity Dragons sport. Brunswick/Mt. Ararat advanced to its first postseason this year.
Mt. Ararat cross country runner Lisandro Berry-Gaviria did his thing, winning the KVAC, Regional and State titles over a three-week stretch. Staying with running in Topsham, longtime coach Diane Fournier was inducted into the Maine Principals’ Association Hall of Excellence, a deserving honor for a wonderful coach and motivator.
In October, the Houston Astros won their first World Series, downing the Los Angeles Dodgers in seven games. It was a great end for Houston after the devastating rains of Hurricane Harvey, which dumped 50 inches of the wet stuff and flooded a large swath of the area.
November featured the Richmond boys and girls soccer teams advancing to State D title games. The Bobcat girls, in their eighth consecutive state final, downed rival Ashland, 2-1, while the Bobcat boys came up short to Bangor Christian, 1-0.
The run of three straight state football finals came to an end for defending champion Brunswick, which fell to Lawrence in the Class B North semifinals, 17-12, at Fairfield. Still, it was a great three years for the Dragons.
Hyde boys soccer captured the Class D New England NEPSAC championship with a 1-0 win over Lexington Christian Academy.
Two big announcements came to the city of Portland, with Arena Football coming to Maine, along with a return to professional hockey, as the Maine Mariners will begin play at Cross Insurance Arena next season as a member of the ECHL.
The bad!
Tiger Woods had another up and down year. He returned to the links, only to leave again for his fourth back surgery. A DUI arrest followed, along with another return to the PGA with a solid showing at his tournament in the Bahamas. I hope Tiger is back. He is good for golf and brings a sense of excitement to the sport.
The Celtics did a solid job in the offseason, trading Isaiah Thomas to Cleveland for Kyrie Irving and signing free agent Gordon Hayward. Then Hayward broke his leg in the first quarter of his first game with the C’s and is lost for the season.
An early season girls hockey game between “Battle of the Bridge” rivals Brunswick and Mt. Ararat/Morse turned ugly, with 29 penalties, a few game misconducts, and a player taken to the hospital. It was an ugly affair that ended with Brunswick on top, 7-1.
The Boston Bruins fired head coach Claude Julien, then watched Julien sign with the hated Montreal Canadians.
The Richmond girls basketball team went undefeated during the regular season, but saw its season come to an end at the Augusta Civic Center with a 38- 24 loss to Old Orchard Beach.
The NHL rejected sending players to the Winter Olympics in South Korea in 2018, then the Olympic Committee barred Russian representation for the games.
In a game at Wells, reports from Lisbon parents described abusive chants toward a Greyhound player with Native American heritage. One of these days our society will figure this thing out, taking nicknames like Warriors, Indians, Redskins, etc., out of those team names. Of course, being respectful is the right way to be, no matter a school’s nickname, don’t you think?
Rain was the story in the spring, with athletic directors having to restructure schedules as the wet stuff made fields and courts unplayable.
Bowdoin football struggled through another difficult season, finishing 0-9 and seeing another C-B-B title stay at rival Bates, which defeated the Polar Bears, 24-17.
The U.S. soccer program took a major hit. After a stunning loss to little Trinidad and Tobago, the Americans were shut out from advancing to the 2018 World Cup. Another shocker … Italy is staying home as well. Wow!
Changes
As with any year, changes at the top are sure to happen.
After the Boston Red Sox fell to the Houston Astros in four games, it seemed certain that manager John Farrell was going to be shown the door. It happened, with Alex Cora taking over the duties.
Locally, Morse athletic director
Scott Walker departed for Gray-New Gloucester. Walker was one of the “good guys” for sure, and was replaced by another “good guy” in Nathan Priest.
The coaching carousel occurred, with leaders Bill Bodwell, Sam Chard, Becky Roak, Steve Cox and Dana Lawrence among those departing, with newcomers like Mike Misner, Chad Kirk, Jan Veinot, Jeff Hogan and Seth Farrington among the new breed of leaders.
Wiscasset baseball, with just three players signed up, took a year off from varsity baseball competition, with the hopes of returning in the spring of 2018 after a year of junior varsity play.
Co-op teams continue to crop up, with new combined squads competing in wrestling (Morse/Wiscasset; Lisbon/Oak Hill), football (Lisbon/St. Dom’s) and volleyball (Brunswick/Mt. Ararat). This is the wave of the future. I predict more of these partnerships will come to be in the new year, with costs climbing throughout athletics.
Turf fields are popping up around the Midcoast. Bath’s McMann Field has seen great action over the past couple years, and Freeport’s new field is scheduled to open in the spring after construction delays kept the Falcons off the field in the fall. And, Mt. Ararat, with its new high school construction set to begin, will have a brand new turf field in a few years. Along with Lewiston High School and Whittier Field at Bowdoin, these all weather fields are sure to see some exciting times down the road.
Conclusion
The year 2017 was a busy one. The twists and turns are what make any sports season fun.
As we begin 2018 on Monday — the time of the year where our checkbooks get messed up with 2017 still in our conscious — the hopes are for good health to all of our area athletes. Remember, high school sports is what you make it. Take it seriously, but not too seriously, have fun, and remember to listen to your coaches and be “that team” that goes as far as possible, whether a championship is in your future or a solid, fun season.
BOB CONN is The Times Record sports editor. He can be reached at bconn@timesrecord.com.
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