The Western Maine Conference softball schedule had to undergo a shuffle this week after Old Orchard Beach canceled its varsity season.

Athletic Director Jack Trull told the Maine Principals’ Association last Wednesday that the team would not play a varsity schedule because of a lack of players. Doing that allowed the Seagulls to avoid sanctions next year, when Trull said the school would resume its program.

Old Orchard, a school of fewer than 300 students that also offers girls’ track and tennis in the spring, practiced for three weeks but had only nine players.

“You can play a game with nine players,” said Trull. “You can’t play a season with just nine players.”

Trull said the team lost some players to track, which saw its roster more than double (from around 10 to nearly 30), and tennis.

“A couple of girls had driver’s education, a couple others are recovering from knee injuries suffered in basketball,” he said. “Just add them all up and we only had nine girls.”

Old Orchard could have begun its schedule, but if a player was hurt and the season had to be forfeited, the Seagulls would have been sanctioned by the MPA and unable to have a program next year.

“It was much better to make that call last week and preserve the program,” said Trull. “I’m pretty confident these girls will be back next year.”

Without the Seagulls’ 16 games, the WMC had to alter its schedule. There are now only two Class C teams left in the conference: Sacopee Valley and Traip Academy, each of which lost three scheduled games with Old Orchard.

“It was a chore to match up some games,” said Don King, the athletic director at Poland, who pulled the new schedule together. “But everyone has been extremely cooperative and agreeable to the shuffle.”

The league also reached out to Buckfield, which agreed to add Traip and Sacopee Valley to its schedule.

 

Staff Writer Mike Lowe can be contacted at 791-6422 or at: mlowe@pressherald.com

Twitter: MikeLowePPH

 

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