Male:

BEN GREENBERG, Senior—Baseball

• Winkin Award/Maine Mr. Baseball

• Maine Gatorade Player of the Year

• SMAA MVP

• SMAA all-star, first-team, pitcher

• SMAA all-star, first-team, third base

• SMAA All-Defensive team

• Senior all-star

• Captain

Greenberg became the state’s most decorated player this spring and he did so not only with his highly touted arm, but also with his bat, as he bookended his senior year with Athlete of the Year honors.

Greenberg, who played quarterback on the football team and was a Fitzpatrick Trophy semifinalist back in the fall, came into his final high school baseball campaign highly touted having won the Maine Gatorade Player of the Year award last year (after lifting his batting average from .194 as a sophomore to .415 as a junior and going 6-0 on the mound with an 0.54 earned run average). Prior to this season, Greenberg committed to playing at Fordham University in New York City.

He then went out and led what was essentially a brand new team to the playoffs.

The righthander, who started playing in T-ball, began pitching at the age of 10 and spent four years on the Scarborough varsity, went 5-2 on the mound this spring with a 1.18 ERA, while striking out 52 batters, walking 11 and yielding 28 hits in 41.2 innings. Opposing batters hit just .182 against him.

Highlights included shutting out Cheverus on four hits, beating eventual regional champion Windham in relief and throwing a two-hit shutout against defending state champion Westbrook.

Greenberg also batted .381 with a .619 slugging percentage and a .587 on-base percentage while stealing 10 bases in 11 attempts. He had four doubles and three triples.

Even in light of those stats and a repeat Gatorade Award, to go with the Winkin Award as the state’s best player, Greenberg wasn’t satisfied.

“I wish I’d done better in hindsight,” Greenberg said.

Greenberg, who is also an avid weightlifter, said he greatly enjoyed his time playing for Scarborough.

“I had a lot of great teammates and coaches,” Greenberg said. “I had my whole team behind me. Little kids too.”

Greenberg is spending the summer playing for the Old Orchard Beach Raging Tide of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League, as one of the few recent high school graduates on a team made up largely of college kids.

“They’re great guys and it’s fun, but we’re not winning as much as I’d like,” Greenberg said.

He might be a perfectionist, but Ben Greenberg, Scarborough’s Spring Male Athlete of the Year, earned his place as one of the most highly respected baseball players to come out of our state in recent years. We haven’t heard the last of his greatness.

Coach Ryan Jones’ comment: “Ben has been the rock we have building around for the past three years. When he gets on the mound, it doesn’t matter who he’s facing or if the team has beaten him before. He expects to win. He expects to throw well. It doesn’t happen all the time but he expects to. He was arguably the best player on the field, for both teams, at all times. He’s a natural leader, a true gentleman. He says, ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ and ‘yes, coach.’ I can’t say enough good things about the kid. His parents are great, so I can see where it comes from. He’s just a well rounded individual.”

Previous winners:

2013 John Wheeler (lacrosse)

2012 Ben Wessel (baseball)

2011 Ben Wessel (baseball)

2010 Nick Neugebauer (lacrosse)

2009 Chris Bernard (baseball)

2008 Ryan Hunt (lacrosse)

2007 Phil Lambert (lacrosse)

2006 Bryan Macphie (lacrosse)

2005 David Hamilton (lacrosse)

2004 David Hamilton (lacrosse)

2003 Adam Mumm (track)

2002 Keith Corey (track)

Female:

ALYSSA WILLIAMSON, Senior-Softball

• Miss Maine Softball

• Maine Gatorade Player of the Year

• SMAA Player of the Year

• SMAA first-team, utility

• Senior All-Star

• Captain

Williamson capped her superb high school career with another stellar season on the mound and at the dish and was recognized as a player without peer, one who has a very bright future.

Williamson grew up in Scarborough and fell in love with softball at a young age, learning to pitch in varsity coach Tom Griffin’s clinic at the age of seven. She played the outfield her freshman year, started pitching as a sophomore and while her bat got her noticed from the get-go, by her junior season, she was recognized as one of the top hurlers around as well (she’s also played and trained in Rhode Island, doing her homework on long car rides home).

Williamson didn’t strike out once in her sophomore, junior and senior seasons. As a junior, she hit .540 with three home runs, drove in 25 runs and had a mindboggling 1.494 on-base-plus-slugging average. She was equally brilliant on the hill, where she struck out 55 hitters while posting a 0.38 earned run average.

This spring, Williamson batted .483, slugged 1,086 and pounded out seven home runs, six doubles and four triples while driving in 30 runs. She went 6-0 on the mound with a 1.27 ERA, fanning 66 while walking 30.

For her career, Williamson wound up with only one loss on the mound, in her finale, the regional final setback to Thornton Academy.

“My family, coaches and peers have pushed me to where I am today,” Williamson said. “It’s been amazing to have been part of the Scarborough program.”

Williamson is spending the summer playing with the Rhode Island Thunder travel team and has achieved her dream of playing Division I softball, as she’ll go to Drexel University in Philadelphia next year, where she plans to study business and minor in sports management.

While the Red Storm softball program has produced plenty of stars over the years, it hasn’t seen someone who is so transcendent at the plate and on the mound. Alyssa Williamson, Scarborough’s Spring Female Athlete of the Year, still has much greatness to come.

Coach Tom Griffin’s comment: “Alyssa has been a driving force for our team for the past four seasons. Her presence in our lineup will be greatly missed. She’s been a top level pitcher, great defender and superb hitter. She certainly is on the short list of our greatest players over the past 25 years. She’s someone that was very difficult to pitch around because she has such a complete plate coverage and if you made a mistake she would capitalize on it. I think the most important thing that Alyssa brought to the table was a great love and respect for the game. She came to practice with great energy and work ethic every day. I am so very excited to see her have the opportunity to play Division 1 softball next year at Drexel. I am confident that she will be a major contributor to their pitching staff and lineup.”

Previous winners:

2013 Marisa O’Toole (softball)

2012 Nicole Kirk (track)

2011 Nicole Kirk (track)

2010 Heather Carrier (softball)

2009 Ellie Morin (lacrosse)

2008 Melissa Dellatorre (softball)

2007 Kelsey Griffin (softball)

2006 Lauren Hagerman (lacrosse)

2005 Camille Jania (tennis)

2004 Sarah Marchilli (softball)

2003 Chelsey Ledue (track)

2002 Jen Williams (softball)

Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @foresports.

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