LIAM HICKEY, Senior – Baseball

File photo

• WMC all-star, first-team
* WMC All-Academic
* Captain

Contributed photo

Hickey was the Clippers’ ace and excelled as a leader who always came up big in the biggest spots, as he capped a memorable high school career by nearly pitching his team to a championship.

Hickey, who also was a standout soccer player and key contributor in basketball, hit his stride on the diamond as a junior, going 5-2 with a 1.46 earned run average, while earning first-team all-star mention.

This spring, as a captain, Hickey was a bulldog, throwing 57 innings, allowing just four earned runs, while finishing with a 6-3 record and a 0.49 ERA. He walked 15 batters and struck out 51. His ability to mix speeds, hit spots and out-think opposing hitters set him apart.

Hickey allowed just one unearned run on three hits in 6.1 innings in a quarterfinal round win over Leavitt, then beat Cape Elizabeth in the regional final, going the distance, allowing two runs on seven hits, fanning seven and walking none. In the state game against Old Town, Hickey didn’t allow an earned run and struck out 10, but the Coyotes pushed an unearned run across in the bottom of the sixth and that proved to be the difference in a 1-0 setback.

“The loss will hurt for a little while, but we’ll move on and look at the positives from this year,” said Hickey, after the loss. “We have a lot of guys who love each other. In the end, that’s what matters. It’s been a great run.”

Hickey finishes his Yarmouth career with 11 victories, 96.1 innings pitched and 83 strikeouts.

Hickey will attend St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York next year. He hasn’t decided if he’ll play sports. He’ll leave behind some mighty big shoes to fill.

Coach Marc Halsted’s comment: “Liam has been the consummate leader for our program. He’s a guy that genuinely cares about his teammates, leads by example and puts the team first. If this were the hockey world, I’d compare him to the (Boston) Bruins’ Patrice Bergeron, because he’s so selfless and because he truly sacrifices for the good of the team. In the last two years, he’s never turned the ball down and has been ready for any opponent, which he proved in the playoffs by starting three of our four games. When we realized the state game would get rained out and I saw him, he had that look in his eye. He knew I was going to ask him to throw one more time and he was absolutely going to be ready to go. In the state game, he technically out-pitched one of the best pitchers in the state (Old Town’s Gabe Gifford). Liam worked his way out of key jams and proved his mettle in high-leverage situations. I just wish we could have gotten him two runs, so he’d be viewed the way he should be viewed, as one of the best pitchers in all of Maine baseball. We will miss Liam as a pitcher, teammate and leader. He’s irreplaceable. The next guy that throws on that number 11 jersey has a lot to live up to.”

Previous winners:

• 2022 Frazier Dougherty (track)
* 2021 Colin Senger (lacrosse)
• 2020 No season
• 2019 Jake Rogers (lacrosse)
• 2018 Luke Waeldner (baseball)
• 2017 Gibson Harnett (baseball)
• 2016 Matthew Beatty (lacrosse)
• 2015 Joe Oliva (lacrosse)
• 2014 Braden Becker (tennis)
• 2013 Ben Decker (tennis)
• 2012 Bryce Snyder (baseball)
• 2011 Campbell Belisle-Haley (baseball)
• 2010 Nick Whittaker (baseball)
• 2009 Rob Highland (lacrosse)
• 2008 Robb Arndt (baseball)
• 2007 Jon Poole (lacrosse)
• 2006 Hans Tobiason (lacrosse)
• 2005 Chris Hichborn (lacrosse)
• 2004 Jon Miller (lacrosse)
• 2003 Jared Harriman (lacrosse)
• 2002 Tim Kjeldgaard (lacrosse)

ABBY NOBLE, Freshman – Track

Courtesy Yarmouth High School

• Class B state champion, 100
* Class B state champion, 200
* All-State, second-team
* WMC all-star, first-team, 100
* WMC all-star, first-team, 200

To say Noble made a name for herself in her first season at the high school level would be an epic understatement. The freshman won a pair of Class B state titles and her future is limitless.

Noble made an immediate splash by winning the 100 and 200 at the Bob Morse Invitational back in mid-April and saved her best for the biggest meets.

At the Western Maine Conference championships, Noble won the 100 in 12.9 seconds and the 200 in 27.28 seconds. At the Class B state meet, where the Clippers placed ninth as a team, Noble captured the 100 in 13.08 seconds, the 200 in 27.27 and also anchored a fourth-place 4×100 relay team. Noble went on to compete at New Englands and in the Nike Nationals in Oregon.

Coach Sarah Carrigan’s comment: “We knew Abby was going to be a powerhouse coming in, as she was already faster than our entire girls team last year, as an 8th grader. Abby has incredible turnover, combined with a dedicated work ethic and friendly attitude that make her a natural. Abby’s enthusiasm for the sport is contagious and she has helped strengthen our sprints program. We are both shocked and ecstatic that Abby is only a freshman and that we get to work with her for three more years.”

Previous winners:

• 2022 Katelyn D’Appolonia (lacrosse)
* 2021 Annie Lowenstein (lacrosse)
• 2020 No season
• 2019 Abi Thornton (lacrosse)
• 2018 Eva Then (lacrosse)
• 2017 Gretchen Barbera (lacrosse)
• 2016 Mary Kate Gunville (lacrosse)
• 2015 Mari Cooper (softball)
• 2014 Grace O’Donnell (lacrosse)
• 2013 Grace O’Donnell (lacrosse)
• 2012 Hannah Potter (tennis)
• 2011 Danielle Torres (lacrosse)
• 2010 Danielle Torres (lacrosse)
• 2009 Haley Knaub (track)
• 2008 Nicole Grover (lacrosse)
• 2007 Laurie Baker (lacrosse)
• 2006 Emily Johnson (lacrosse)
• 2005 Chrissie Attura (lacrosse)
• 2004 Louise Taylor (tennis)
• 2003 Louise Taylor (tennis)
• 2002 Christine Clancy (tennis)

Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net.