CUMBERLAND — There is a rhythm to the drills, even though the Greely High baseball team is inside the gym on a cold April afternoon.

Players run to their positions. The ball is put in play. And the players react.

Derek Soule, in his 17th season as the Rangers’ head coach, stands back and watches, as does assistant Bob Anthoine. Pitching coach Miles Hunt gives instructions on pickoff plays. The action is sometimes stopped so corrections can be made. The players reset and the action begins again.

It may seem boring but this is how championships are made. And the Rangers have one of Maine’s best Class B baseball programs.

Greely enters this spring as the two-time defending state champion. The Rangers also won state titles in 2007 and 2009, and have a regional title from 2011. No other Class B team has appeared in more than two state title games over the same stretch.

With six positional players and standout pitcher Ryan Twitchell returning, the Rangers figure to contend again. Asked why this program has enjoyed such great success, Soule points to its deep roots.

“I think part of the success has to do with a community that supports extracurricular activities,” he said. “A lot of the extracurricular activities at Greely have had success, whether it’s the baseball team, the girls’ soccer team, our jazz band or our math team. This community really sees the benefits of sports and extracurricular activities.

“And I think we may have a little more success, in part, due to a tradition that’s been built here. We’ve built a sense of history with our Greely baseball tradition.”

It started with Anthoine, who coached Greely from 1986-99, and won 171 games, and state championships in 1997 and 1999. It continued with Soule, who played for Anthoine and now is the school’s all-time wins leader with a career record of 234-66. It includes Mort Soule, Derek’s father, who won a Class A state championship with Deering in 1993 and is the junior varsity coach. It seeps to the lower levels, where many former Rangers coach.

The players understand what it takes to add to that history.

“We all support each other and are willing to do things that we need to do, whether it’s to bunt or steal, hit-and-run, or warm up the pitcher,” said senior shortstop Calvin Soule – Derek’s son, who’s been hanging around the Greely dugout the last 12 years, starting as a batboy. “It’s all about sacrificing for the common goal, and that creates a very strong bond for many of us.”

You can see that bond in practice, where the players joke with each other one moment, then offer encouragement or advice in the next.

“We’re just a bunch of guys who love the sport and we’re just coming out to play our brand of ball,” said senior center fielder Matt Pisini, who is returning from a knee injury that forced him to miss football season. “There’s a sense of camaraderie on this team and we just have fun.”

Many of them have played together for years, from Little League through AAU, middle school and high school. Derek Soule has been their coach for many of those years.

“He knows what we’re capable of,” said Pisini. “And when he talks, you listen. You know what’s coming out of his mouth is going to be right.”

The Rangers have some talent, too. Twitchell threw a no-hitter in last year’s 10-0 state championship game victory over Camden Hills and is being recruited by several Division I schools. Soule is a three-year starter at shortstop who hit .379. Senior second baseman Justin Leeman hit .359 with a team-high 17 RBI. Catcher Dylan Fried, first baseman Caleb Normandeau and left fielder Austin Nowinski return as well.

“With a combination of the intelligence, athleticism and experience these guys have, you can do things with this team that we may not have been able to do with others,” said Derek Soule. “We can be more aggressive offensively, even defensively. Down the stretch last year, these guys made some pretty extraordinary defensive plays that were the difference between ending our season and continuing on.

“I want these guys to be aggressive offensively and defensively, and play without fear of making mistakes. That’s a big thing. It’s not a good feeling for a player to be worried if you make a mistake.

“I think this group is really strong.”

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