Maine Team Of The Week - Thornton Academy
May 29, 2019
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Maine Team Of The Week - Thornton Academy
The Maine Prep Baseball Report Team of the Week won all four games in the past week to improve to 14-2 on the season, locking up a first-round bye in the upcoming tournament.
“I think it’s the best record we’ve ever had at the school,” Lavierre said.
A state championship is something that has eluded the program to this point in time.
“I’m not sure if we’ve ever won it, I know we haven’t in the past 25 years,” Lavierre noted.
But the possibility appears to be there in 2019 with a first-round bye and then two home games before the South Championship of the Southwestern Maine Activities Association at a neutral site next week if it all works out.
“We have good senior leadership and our chemistry is strong,” Lavierre said about this year’s squad. “The kids want to work in practice and outside of practice to get better.”
Lavierre admits to learning a lot his first year at the helm a season ago.
“I learned last year that hitting is a weak spot for a lot of teams,” Lavierre explained. “This year we’ve put the focus on a hitting philosophy and hitting with a purpose in practice.”
The work is paying off with a .330 team batting average.
Senior DH Calvin Christoforo, who also catches, tops the Golden Trojans with a .412 batting average in his first season as a starter. Cleanup hitter Timmy Smith, a .240 hitter a year ago, is now second on the team in average at .404. The versatile infielder plans to walk on at Southern Maine where three-hole hitter Cam Seymour has committed. The left-handed hitting catcher has a .381 batting average with six doubles, two home runs, 14 walks and 11 RBIs while striking out just twice.
More help at the plate comes from freshman center fielder Cody Bowker, a .340 hitter with eight extra-base knocks who Lavierre says “will be one of the top guys in the state shortly.” The 5-11 155-pounder is rated 27th in the New England 2022 class.
Luke Chessie, a shortstop and the team’s leadoff hitter, is the number one pitcher with six wins throwing against the top competition Thornton Academy faces. The senior is 6-0 with a 2.92 ERA, fanning 38 and walking 18 in 36 innings on the mound.
Left-hander Ryan Penney is 2-2 in 27 innings while Nicholas Griffin adds depth to a staff that is centered around Seymour, the team’s closer. The 5-9 200-pound right-hander has 12 saves in 12 opportunities, striking out 24 in 14 innings of work with a 2.50 ERA.
“It’s nice to have the pressure taken off the starters,” Lavierre said about the value of Seymour in relief.
The second-year head coach hopes that proves beneficial in the tournament, which begins on June 4 when Thornton Academy is one of four teams with a first-round bye. The quarterfinals are June 6 and semis June 9 with the South final sent for June 11. The winner advances to face the North champion on June 15.
“We’ve been in a lot of close games, so I think that will pay off in the long run,” Lavierre noted. “We just need to continue to hit the way that we’ve been hitting. Have a plan when you go to the plate and don’t swing at bad pitches.
“The recipe we have is to get the starters through the fifth inning and we’ll be in good shape with what we have in the bullpen.”