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Deering

PORTLAND, Me. - With every pitcher back from a year ago, the prospects were promising for Deering in 2019.

But the transfer in of Trejyn Fletcher makes the outlook for this season much more than promising.

“We can plug him in anywhere and he’ll be the best player,” head coach Josh Stowell said of the top-ranked senior in New England, who originally went to Cheverus before going to Trinity-Pawling School in New York. “Being in Maine, guys don’t always know what the elite level looks like, they don’t see it. But he’s the type of athlete that no matter where he’s at you don’t see.

“Hopefully, what we’ll see is him help everyone try and improve their game while at the same time spreading a little knowledge to the other guys.”

Where the Vanderbilt commit fits into the lineup is still to be determined. The 6-2 198-pounder is considered an outfielder and third base while also hitting 94 on the mound.

“Catcher is our one big hole this year so we may have to move our shortstop to catcher and then move Fletcher to short,” noted Stowell. “If not, he will primarily pitch and play outfield.”

Luke Hill is the shortstop Stowell referred to, a senior that will also pitch for the Rams.

Two others back to pitch for Deering are Mike Jones and Josh Paisley, a pair of senior right-handers. Jones will see action at first base when not throwing for the Rams while Paisley, a 6-6 230-pounder, can fill in at corner infield or short according to Stowell.

Sophomore lefty Bennett Berg is another that could give Deering innings this season.

“He has a lot of potential on the mound,” Stowell explained about Berg. “He’s a young kid that competes. He’s kind of the future of our pitching staff.”

The Deering mentor likes the depth and ability to throw so many quality arms out there.

“With all our pitching back from last year, we’re in a good spot there,” Stowell noted. “We have a solid four or five pitchers, although there are no roles defined.”

Still, there are some concerns from the fifth-year head coach.

“Having those arms back is a good thing, but we lost five or six starters,” Stowell pointed out.

The biggest of those missing is Jack Lynch, a catcher now at Merrimack.

“The big mystery for us is behind the plate,” Stowell said. “We’ll try to convert a couple guys. There’s Luke and there’s Blain Alvs, a sophomore who has always been a third baseman. He’s a three-sport athlete so the position could lend itself to him more than the other guys.”

The ability to come through at the plate will be crucial as well this year for the Rams.

“I think with our pitching we can hold teams down pretty well, but the question is can we get ourselves consistent at the plate,” Stowell said. “Sometimes we’ve hit too many balls in the air. There are too many situations where we’ve not been able to manufacture runs. With our pitching staff, if we can get a three-run lead we should be able to get it done.”

The hope is to return to the success of the past with the Deering program.

“There was a period from 1999-2009 when the program won eight state titles in 10 years,” noted Stowell, a 2005 Deering graduate. “But we’ve been down of late. In my four years we’ve gotten in the playoffs and won one game. We’ve not had the extra piece to get over the top.

“The big thing for us is numbers,” Stowell continued. “We’ve been down the last couple years and not enough for the JV and varsity teams. We can’t develop the freshmen.”

A year ago, Deering finished 7-9 in the regular season and beat the five-seed in the playoffs before losing in the second round.

“We’re pretty optimistic about this year but realistic, too,” Stowell said. “The biggest thing for us is to find a guy to do the catching. That could be an adventure to start out, but hopefully we can narrow it down.

“If we can’t find a catcher we’re looking at .500. If somebody steps up, we can be a top-four team and have a chance to make a run.”