The Maine Baseball Hall of Fame has released its list of nine inductees for 2016: Ralph Damren, Dan Deshaies, Thom Freeman, Dave Gonyar, Dan Kane, Amel Kiszonak, Mike Mazerall, John Sawyer and Gary Williamson.

All of the inductees will be honored during the annual induction ceremony and banquet on Sunday, July 17, at the Holiday Inn By the Bay in Portland.

Damren, of Old Town, serves as rules interpreter for the Eastern Maine Board of Umpires Association and has umpired for 50 years at all levels.

Deshaies, of New Gloucester, has worked 27 high school state championship games as an umpire and also worked as a professional umpire, reaching Triple-A.

Freeman, of Wrentham, Massachusetts, helped lead Bates to Maine State Series titles in 1962 and 1963 before going on to play for four seasons in the New York Yankees organization.

Gonyar, of Bangor, played for two teams at the University of Maine that advanced to the College World Series and went on to build an outstanding program at Bucksport High School.

Kane, of Surry, was a member of the University of Maine teams that advanced to the College World Series in 1984 and 1986 and was the 1987 ECAC New England Player of the Year. He went on to coach at George Stevens Academy for 27 years, winning three state championships.

Kiszonak will be inducted posthumously. He was a three-year letterman at the University of Maine in the 1930s and later managed the Roberts 88ers to semi-pro success during the heyday of Maine town team baseball.

Mazerall, of Norcross, Georgia, was a dominant pitcher at Westbrook High in the early 1960s. He went on to play at Loyola University in New Orleans before spending four years in the Boston Red Sox organization.

Sawyer, of Columbia Falls, was a left-handed pitcher for Messalonskee High and pitched in the 1976 College World Series for the University of Maine. He was also coached at Narraguagus High for 13 years, winning a state championship in 1986.

Williamson, of Bethel, was a member of the University of Southern Maine’s first Division III national championship team in 1991. He was the regional MVP and World Series MVP.

In addition to the nine inductees, Tom Chard, a retired Portland Press Herald sportswriter, has been named the recipient of the Sonny Noel President’s Award.

Tickets for the induction banquet can be purchased by contacting Don Douglas at ddouglas@douglastitle.com or 846-3460.

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