Maine Team Of The Week - Oxford Hills
May 16, 2019
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Maine Team Of The Week - Oxford Hills
SOUTH PARIS, Me. - Wins over state-ranked Edward Little and Greely along with a crossover victory against Lewiston has Oxford Hills still unbeaten and the Maine Prep Baseball Report Team of the Week.
“Our hitting has been good and we’re scoring a lot of runs,” noted Oxford Hills coach Shane Slicer, whose team is batting .370 on the season. “We’ve had solid pitching with two guys 4-0 and up until Saturday we only had three errors on the season.”
While that total doubled to six, the Vikings remained unbeaten with an extra-inning win over Greely to move to 10-0.
The one-two pitching punch of Colton Carson and Wyatt Williamson is a big reason why Oxford Hills is the top-ranked team in Class A Maine North. Both 4-0, Carson has a 1.20 ERA with 43 strikeouts on the year while Williamson has a 0.35 ERA. A right-handed University of Maine commit, Carson is ranked 94th in the 2019 New England class with Williamson a left-handed junior recruited by Southern Maine.
A catcher when not on the mound, Williamson is also batting .357 to help out three senior leaders in the lineup for the Vikings.
Center fielder Cameron Slicer, the coach’s son, leads Oxford Hills in seven offensive categories including batting average at .500 and runs scored with 16. The senior is also a Southern Maine signee as is first baseman Ashton Kennison, a senior hitting .448 while topping the Vikings in RBIs with a dozen.
Rodney Bean is another senior contributor, a second baseman averaging .385 at the plate.
“Maturity is the number one thing,” Slicer explained as to why his squad is hitting so well this season. “We have experience, all of those guys have been three-year starters. They had an offseason where they went on a trip to Virginia and they’ve also been hitting all winter. They’ve certainly put their time in.”
The 17th-year head coach at Oxford Hills has done the same in bringing pride to the Vikings’ program.
“Hard work, fearless play and outhusting the opponent,” Slicer said are what teams at Oxford Hills are notorious for displaying each year.
After two games this week, another battle with Edward Little is slated for Monday with the 16-game regular-season schedule winding down.
“Right now we just need to keep improving every day,” Slider pointed out. “We have eight seniors starting and we’re going through graduation and other things so keeping focused will be big.
“We lost two big games last year, so at this point it’s about keeping them motivated and grinding. With the weather there’s been a lot of grinding in the gym which requires keeping them focused and motivated. That’s the key.”