Baseball

Coach: Mike Rutherford (2nd season)

Last year’s record: 15-6, lost 3-2 in Western Maine championship to Deering

Key players: Christian Hamilton (senior)-P/OF-All-State as a junior last year; Matt Foye (senior)-SS; Lance Ludka (senior)-CF; Scott Heath (sophomore)-P/OF; Zach Collett (sophomore)-2B and Zach Gardner (sophomore)-3B

Season outlook: The Blue Blazes are expected to be one of the teams to beat in the SMAA this season and will be battling with Deering for league supremacy all spring. With seven starters returning, led by top pitcher Hamilton, Westbrook has the experience to make a title run this year. “Our kids have high expectations this year, our goal is to win the state championship,” Rutherford said.

However, to reach that goal, the Blazes need to get by Deering, which went undefeated in 2008 and beat Westbrook to win the Western Maine title. With most of Deering’s championship squad returning intact, Rutherford knows the Blazes have their work cut out for them. “We have to find a way to beat Deering,” he said, adding that the Blazes have to stay healthy if they want to get past the defending champs. “You’re always an injury away from having trouble,” he said.

Softball

Coach: Jim Seavey (2nd season)

Last year’s record: 1-15, missed playoffs

Key players: Cori Knott (senior), 3B; Karleigh Gaudreau (junior), P/OF; Danielle Bouchard (junior), middle infielder and Lindsay Driscoll (sophomore), C

Season outlook: Seavey said that he has a very young team this season and he is looking for some strong pitching. He is looking for the Blazes to become fundamentally sound and improve on last season.

Boys lacrosse

Coach: Isaac Treem (3rd season)

Last year’s record: 5-7, missed playoffs

Key players: Dane Tupper (junior), attack; Joey Estes (senior), defense and

Zach Joy (senior), attack

Season outlook: Treem said that he is looking for the Blazes to post their first-ever winning record in boys lacrosse this spring. “Hopefully with a winning season we will be able to make the playoffs,” Treem said. “But we are focused on turning our program into a winning one.”

In trying to reach that goal, Treem said Westbrook is remaking its offensive and defensive strategies from previous years to hopefully better take advantage of the team’s talents. “However, we have a lot of players that have only played lacrosse for two or three years and it may be difficult for them to pick up the new system,” the coach said. “Hopefully, with the hard work we are putting in early in the season, we will be able to pick up the new system and use it to accomplish our goals and establish ourselves as a competitive lacrosse program.”

Girls lacrosse

Coach: Debbie Henry (8th season)

Last year’s record: 6-7, lost in prelims

Key players: On the offensive side, seniors: Ashley Clifford, Jade Hicks, Meliah Leighton, Heather Neihoff and Emily Wight. On the defensive side, seniors: Jalissa Bryant, Ceara DiBiase and Erica Gammon.

Season outlook: The Blazes have several returning starters coming back to the team this year, so they should be able to use that experience to win in the playoffs. “We are lucky enough to have quite a few returning varsity starters, so it will be a matter of putting the players into positions to make us the best team,” Henry said. “Our goals are to have fun, make the playoffs, and win games in the tournament.”

Boys tennis

Coach: Tim Gillis (10th season)

Last year’s record: 6-6 regular season, beat Thornton Academy in the prelims, lost to Deering in the quarterfinals.

Key players: David Born returns for his fourth year as a varsity player, Adam LaViolet and Tyler Rand add senior leadership, and Ian Karby, Brenden Walden, and Matt Cottrell all return with varsity experience.

Season outlook: Gillis said he hopes to be near the top of the league this season, but to do that, the Blazes are going to have to get by Windham and Scarborough.

The coach is also looking for the older players to help the younger ones along. “I hope our experienced players can help the talented younger ones fit in quickly,” Gillis said. “We have some promising newcomers in Nich Jobin, Dylan Gillis, and Graham Strondak, and they may see some competitive action.”

Girls tennis

Coach: Mike Makin (20th season)

Last year’s record: 7-5 regular season, lost in the quarterfinals

Key players: Kelly Dipietrantonio, Mallory Driscoll, Lori Anne Esmiller, Kathryn Bois, Deanna Boisvert, Kristine Brassard and Aimee Clarrage

Season outlook: Makin said he expects to have an experienced team this season. “All but one girl from the top 20 on our team return from last year, and we have a very heated competition for varsity spots,” he said. “My goals are to make the playoffs again and make it past the quarterfinals.”

Boys track

Coach: Scott Rush-Donohue (3rd season)

Last year: The Blazes had more athletes make it to the state championship meet that in the past year

Key athletes: Dan Roukey – senior captain, 400 meters, 100 meters; Tripp Richardson – senior captain, 800 meters; Manny Vincent – a junior transfer from Deering; Pat Fagan -junior, according to his coach, Fagan is looking to throw over 50′ in the shot this spring, which will allow him to turn heads at states; Justin Richards – senior thrower and captain

Season outlook: “This team is improving,” Rush-Donohue said. “We moved up in ranks at states during the indoor season and have greater numbers for outdoor. We plan on

improving here as well and making a little noise.”

Girls track

Coach: Suzanne Ray (1st season as head coach)

Key athletes: Courtney Mailly, freshman, high jump and hurdles, she was fifth high jump at the indoor track state meet; Chelsea Preston, senior, sprints, hurdles, jumps; Audrey Cobb, sophomore, throws and Brandi Moore, sophomore, distance

Season outlook: Ray, who takes over as head coach after five years as an assistant, said she is in the process of building up numbers for the girls track team. “Our numbers have been small in the past years, but they have more than doubled since last year,” she said. “We hope to start building a foundation for a strong team as we have some potential state qualifiers.”

Ray said she will concentrate on getting her athletes to qualify for the state championships. “With a small team we will focus on each athlete working towards their own individual goals throughout the season,” she said. “We hope to have some state qualifiers and potential scorers at the state level. As our numbers are starting to increase, we will start setting more team goals throughout the season.”