Fans in Section 112 behind third base had contrasting views Friday night about the new safety netting guarding them from foul balls – and altering what had been an intimate and unobstructed view of the game.

Four rows back from the field, Rose Huntington of Newcastle and Phil Kaplan of Falmouth sat two seats apart.

“I don’t like the net,” said Huntington, 54, an original season- ticket holder who was struck by a foul ball about five years ago, resulting in a linear fracture of her jaw. “I’d rather be able to see the game and take my chances. I have a glove. That was an unfortunate accident.”

The ball that hit Huntington also struck another woman, who was taken to the hospital.

Kaplan, 50, recalled a curving liner that drilled his 10-year-old son in the shoulder.

“Luckily he leaned toward me and not the other way,” Kaplan said. “It would have been right in his face.”

Kaplan said his son hasn’t wanted to return since that incident four years ago.

“The crew here was really good,” Kaplan said. “They moved us behind home plate afterward. They got him some ice cream but that was his last game. So I’m very happy to have the net. I can relax now.”

“The moral of the story,” said Charlie Huntington, Rose’s husband, “is with the net up, you can never teach your kid to pay attention.”

WHEN THE Sea Dogs’ front office met for opening-day planning, Charlie Eshbach, the team president, arrived with notes.

“I came in with a list of people I thought should be considered for throwing out the first pitch,” Eshbach said, “and they said it was already decided.”

The choice was Eshbach, 65, who has been in charge of operating this franchise from the beginning.

So to begin the 25th season at Hadlock Field, Eshbach stood on the mound and delivered the first pitch

When Portland was awarded a franchise in the Eastern League on Oct. 4, 1992, team owner Dan Burke hired Eshbach – then the league president – as the team president and general manager on Oct. 20.

The Sea Dogs became a hit. Eshbach was named Eastern League Executive of the Year twice (1994, 2002).

In 2000, Eshbach and the Sea Dogs received the John H. Johnson President’s Trophy, which, according to MiLB.com, is “minor league baseball’s top award, presented annually to honor the complete baseball franchise – based on franchise stability, contribution to league stability, contributions to baseball in the community, and promotion of the baseball industry.”

After the 2010 season, Eshbach passed on the general manager duties to Geoff Iacuessa, while remaining as the team’s president.

THE GREENSKEEPER DUTIES will be handled by someone besides Rick Anderson for the first time in Sea Dogs history. Anderson retired in the offseason and was replaced by his assistant, Jason Cooke, 38, of South Portland.

Cooke, who worked under Anderson for eight years, also helps coach football and baseball at his alma mater, South Portland High. “I’ll get over there when (the Sea Dogs) are on the road,” he said.

After graduating in 1997, Cooke pitched for the University of Rhode Island.

The field looked in good shape for April and, Cooke said, “we were fortunate. We’re usually fighting the frost, but the fluctuating temperatures did a number on the turf.”

Anderson will be missed, Cooke said, “but not a whole lot has changed. We have a good crew. Rick allowed us to grow in our roles.”

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