LISBON FALLS

Over the years, high school softball teams competing in the Mountain Valley Conference have had to fight an uphill battle against Georges Valley, a squad that went to several state title games after brutalizing most of the teams in the conference (except Telstar, perhaps) during the regular season.

Georges Valley is no longer in the MVC, having been merged with Rockland to form Oceanside, forcing a move to Class B, so coaches are trying to figure out which teams will rise to the top in 2012.

Lisbon may be one of those squads in coach Terri Trudell’s second season after finishing 9-7 last year.

“I think that we can contend with all the teams in the MVC,” said Trudell, whose Greyhounds open at home against Monmouth on April 23. “We have a great group of girls that want to stay late at practice to get more groundballs, flyballs and hit more off the machine. It is really a great feeling that they are truly invested in their team.”

Back is All-Conference shortstop Brooke Lawrence, a senior who hit .456 last year with 19 RBIs, four doubles and seven triples. She is joined by senior outfielder Alexa Harmon (. 386, 19 RBIs, five doubles) and junior utility player Bailey Madore (.387).

On the mound, Trudell returns senior hurler Kimber Morse, while senior Haley Eck is behind the plate, replacing graduated Nichole Conrad. Other returners are junior Chantal Bisson (second base) and utility player Jenna Clifford, a sophomore.

One of Trudell’s big challenges is to replace her corner infielders as Shauna Riordan (third base) and Krystin Ramich (first base) graduated, along with pitcher/outfielder Crystal Ingerson and infielder Ashley Fournier.

“We are a young team with a lot of potential,” said Trudell, who has nine freshmen in the program. “The seniors are great leaders, who are excited for the season to get started. The keys for the season is fundamentals.”

Freshmen Kaylin Hill (pitcher), Arianna Kahler (P), Taylor Plourde (C/UT), Lilliam Wade (C/UT), Monica Austin (UT), Loren Grant (UT), Courtney Lawrence (UT), Amanda Hazelton (UT) and Molly Nicholson (UT) look to contribute, along with sophomore newcomers Olivia Harrington ( OF) and Renae Samay- Houle (infield).

“My expectation is to be a fundamentally sound team,” concluded Trudell.

Baseball

Randy Ridley lost a ton of talent from his 5-11 squad to graduation and has a major rebuilding job to do as the Greyhounds move back to Western C competition after a few years in Western B.

“I lost Mike Degou (second base), Kyle Frazier ( first base), Chyle Cameron (third base), Josh Pomerleau

( OF/ 2B), Tobey Harrington (outfield), Alex Corey (OF), Nick Dingley (3B) and Luke Caron (1B), so the key will be how quickly this team can gel,” said Ridley, whose team opens at home against Monmouth on April 23. “With just three starters back from last year, the players will play different positions as I try to figure out what is best as we move forward.”

Ridley will look for senior leadership from pitcher/outfielder Mason Smith (P/OF), catcher Dalton Dunphy, outfielder Aaron Boyington and pitcher/shortstop Jo Osmond. The other returners are junior utility player Brendon Hovey and starting pitcher/shortstop Ryan Riordan.

Ridley’s newcomers are seniors Kyle Priddle (2B) and Kody Priddle (3B/P), junior Ryan Brewer (OF), sophomore Tucker Brannon (C), and freshmen Kyle Bourget (P/SS) and RJ Sargent (OF/P).

“My expectations are to improve on last year’s 5-11 record,” said Ridley. “We need to be better defensively after making way too many errors last year. Plus, we have to hit with runners in scoring position after leaving around six players in scoring position a game last year with less than two outs.”

Ridley doesn’t see the move back to Western C as an advantage for the Greyhounds.

“We still have to play well and win games to make the playoffs,” said the coach, who sees St. Dom’s, Telstar, Spruce Mountain, Dirigo and Wiscasset as the teams to beat in the MVC.

Boys tennis

Paul Giggey’s Greyhounds finished 8-4 in 2011, good for the No. 6 seed in the Western B postseason last year. Lisbon fell to No. 3 Lincoln Academy in the Western B quarterfinals.

Giggey lost Taylor Wrede, Tim Dobson, Josh Broadwater and Erik Chapman to graduation, but returns several veteran players who contributed last season, including senior Zackary Taylor (8-4 at No. 3 singles).

Juniors Robert Jama, Levi Dussault ( No. 1 doubles), Zachariah Cribbin, Aaron French (No. 2 doubles), Mike Jenkins and Evan Keating ( 7- 3 No. 2 singles last year) return, along with sophomore Jacob Bremmer.

Newcomers are junior Mitch Austin and freshman Draven Walker.

“ The key for us this year is to develop the younger players and receive strong leadership from the experienced players,” said Giggey, whose squad returns to Western C competition this year. “We hope to make the playoffs.”

This year’s slate includes every MVC team once, giving the Greyhounds 12 different opponents during the regular season.

“We like the fact that we are playing more teams because it is more challenging to face new players,” said Giggey, whose squad opens at Dirigo on April 18.

Girls tennis

The Greyhounds struggled through the regular season last year, compiling a 4-8 mark and missing out on the Western B playoffs.

This season coach Georgia Ahlers, who lost Megan Craig and Katie McManus to graduation, hopes to lead her team to the Western C postseason. She will lean on seniors Sarah Giraldo (No. 1 singles) and Nicole Gardner (No. 2 singles) to get the Greyhounds through.

“We have two good singles players at the top in Sarah and Nicole, but it can be tough on them as well because they always face the other teams’ top two players,” said Ahlers, who is trying to piece together her No. 3 singles player and the two starting doubles squads. “ If the players want a good spot, they will have to step up when we do the ladder matches. Those should be very competitive and will come down to chemistry.”

Ahlers has no juniors on the squad, but returns a slew of sophomores that saw some time on the court last season. Sarah Craig, Brianna Sults, Nicole Jones and Tabitha Porter are expected to battle for a spot, along with newcomers senior Virginia Tolbert and freshman Erica Gardner.

“We play 12 teams once this year, so hopefully we can pick up some early wins and gain some confidence,” said Ahlers, whose squad opens on April 18 at home against Dirigo.

Track

The six- time defending MVC champion Greyhounds get back into the swing of things today at Wiscasset in a four-team meet that is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m.

“We are hoping to win our seventh consecutive MVC championship, and being a major factor at the Class C meet,” said longtime coach Dean Hall, who returns a bevy of athletes to the fold despite graduating several talented athletes, including Andrew Arias, Seth Boucher, Forrest Cornell, Taylor Haines, Devyn St. Jean, Allicyn Fitzgerald, Tara Metzger and Sabrina Wallace.

Senior returners are Joe Daigle ( distance), Keenan Grover ( pole vault), Alexander Hall (race/walk), Morgan Reeves ( jumps), Andrew Smith ( distance), Zach Splude (sprints/jumps), Garrett Starr (distance), Shane Tanguay (hurdles), Devon Brewer ( throws), Angie Bulgin (javelin), Maranda Eveson (hurdles), Hannah Hall (sprints), Erin Marquis ( pole vault), Bri Moore (throws), Meagan Thomas ( distance), Lindsey Whitney (race/walk) and Virginia Tolbert (middle distance).

The juniors are Aaron Halls ( sprints/ jumps), Ben Kates ( distance), Kyle Sheehan ( hurdles/ jumps), Brett Williams ( pole vault), Kayla Angelico ( javelin), Miranda Carroll (race/walk), Kristen Carter (middle distance), Luci Charest (middle distance), Kaitlyn Doustou (jumps), Justice Fraser- Gagnon ( throws), Leah Goldsberry (manager), Jordan Kates ( throws), Lacey Lyons (throws), Gabby Ouellette (jumps), Savannah Porter ( distance) and Haley Ridley (throws), while the returning sophomores are Tyler Bard (race/walk), Brandon Laurelez (hurdles), Josh Melnick (throws), Cam Ramich ( jumps), Quincy Thompson (jumps/sprints), Jordon Torres ( sprints), Olivia Bulgin (race/walk), Paige Galligan (middle distance), Shantal MacWhinnie (sprints), Delanie Ouellette (middle distance), Abigail Roy (hurdles), Jen Runyon (middle distance) and Samantha Wood (throws).

Coach Hall has some newcomers looking to find their events. Junior Nick Collins (throws); sophomores Mariah Breton (race/walk), Jennifer Smith (jumps); and freshmen C.J. Adams (sprints), Sean Ball (throws), Christian Booker (distance), Chris Giraldo (sprints), Jacob Mulderig (distance), Jeff Willey (distance), Allie Bubar (throws), Mia Durgin (jumps), Ashley Field (race/walk) and Drew Staples-Stewart (sprints, jumps) round out the large roster.

“ The keys for us are to stay healthy, receive solid leadership from the strong, veteran group, maintain quality performances throughout the season and blend the newcomers into the program,” said Dean Hall, who expects Spruce Mountain to be a “big challenge.”