LISBON

Recently, Lisbon High School student/athletes Tyler Halls and Ryley Austin celebrated a championship, helping the Unified coed basketball team to a state championship after two state final misses.

Now, Halls and Austin are onto the next thing, such is life at a small school. However, after coming within a late walk-off setback to Sacopee Valley of a state baseball title berth in last year’s Class C South regional final at Saint Joseph’s College in Standish, the expectations are certainly high for the Greyhounds as the baseball season gets started.

Figure, Randy Ridley’s squad lost just one senior — first baseman Austin Fournier — to graduation. Back is the entire pitching staff, led by the lefty Halls, and right-handers Lucas Francis, Noah Austin and Ryley Austin.

In all, seven seniors will suit up for Ridley, with this core group sporting a combined three-year mark of 38- 17, including a 4-3 record in the postseason.

Last year’s run began innocently enough with a preliminary win over Carrabec. Then came backto back road wins against powers Madison and St. Dom’s.

“We hadn’t had a lot of success in the playoffs, but last year it was a magical run,” Ridley said. “Those kids really stepped up and showed a not-lose mentality. They went right after it every game.”

Halls took the ball in the regional final against the Hawks. He struggled with control, walking eight Sacopee hitters and throwing upwards of 150 pitches. Leading late, Lisbon watched Sacopee rally in the seventh for a 7-6 victory to end Lisbon’s season.

Now, the challenge for Ridley is to prepare his team for one more run, despite the obvious familiarity with Ridley’s coaching style.

“In a way, I look at it that it’s harder to prepare a team that had such a great run and just lost it at the end,” said Ridley, whose Greyhounds are slated to host Carrabec in their Mountain Valley Conference opener on April 19. “To get them there, through the long haul, is difficult. My intensity level, I don’t have to worry about that. The kids are going to go out and play their game. It is about making sure everyone is at the top of their game when we start the season, knowing this year can be our chance.”

“There is pressure on us,” Halls said. “A lot will expect a lot from us. But, I think there are a lot of people who will sleep on Lisbon, and we will take advantage of that.”

Pitching changes

This season begins a major change for high school pitchers, with rules governing how many pitches a hurler can throw in a game and how much rest must follow.

A pitcher can throw a maximum of 110 pitches in a game, followed by four full days of rest before taking to the mound again.

Ridley has embraced this change by using an “all hands on deck” mentality.

“During our conditioning week, just about anybody that came here was here to see it they could pitch,” said the coach. “We have (senior) Noah Francis and (junior) Sean Scott back out, two arms that will help us. They can eat up some of those late inning frames. I had eight kids from the varsity that potentially can pitch. It is about balancing it out, getting those quality innings that we need and those young arms on the hill to prepare for the postseason.”

“We have had everyone throwing off the mound indoors, just trying to see who we have,” added Ryley Austin. “We won’t be able to ride one or two pitchers to succeed. We need to get those hitters out and move on.”

“I will need to find the strike zone with more of my pitches. We will have to have a pitching rotation that is smart,” said Halls.

Ridley admitted that he doesn’t like to talk about pressure, or putting undue stress on his team. However, there are expectations.

“In a sense, it is on them, and on me to prepare the right way for the season,” said Ridley. “I want the kids to play relaxed. If they think they need to win everything, it puts pressure on them. They are ready. They want it and know they can get there. It is about getting the work in and becoming mentality prepared.

“We are going out there with a target on our backs. We will have to be at the top of our game every time we step out on that field.”

“We expect to get pretty deep, deeper than last year,” Halls said. “My focus is states, but we need to take it one game at a time. I will be disappointed if we don’t win states this year. We know how good this team is and we are all brothers. We have played with each other since the third grade. We have a bond.”

“I want to make it to the state championship, and I don’t see any reason that we can’t,” Ryley Austin said. “We just need to keep our heads on our shoulders, be smart with our pitching. We should go deep in our batting order.”

The weather may play a factor into this year’s schedule. With a snowstorm hitting the region on Saturday, and the prediction of lots of rain over the coming days, Ridley is trying to make the best out of the gym workouts.

“The weather puts us back into the gym longer, which means we have to be a little bit more creative. You can drill, drill, drill, but after a while it gets very stale,” said Ridley.

For Ryley Austin, having one more season playing alongside his brother, Noah, and cousin Nick, is something to look forward to.

“It is great being able to play with Noah and Nick, something I never would have thought would have happened,” said the senior. “Me and Nick are up the middle, second and short, and Noah is in center field when Tyler is on the mound. We are up the middle in one way or another.

“Time has been flying by. Hockey is done, soccer is done, Unified is done. This is the last sport at Lisbon for us seniors. It is difficult seeing that everything is done, all in the past. We are looking for one more for baseball and to make some more memories.”