Boys’ team

Wes Ridlon, baseball

Courtesy Scarborough Athletics

There was something special about the Scarborough baseball team this spring.

From start to finish.

The Red Storm weren’t supposed to be the last team standing in Class A.

They weren’t even a favorite in the South Region.

After a stunning midseason stumble, Scarborough was expected to come back to the pack.

Even after entering the regional tournament as a the top seed, many thought the Red Storm would falter in the playoffs like they had in recent seasons.

Instead, Scarborough was the last team standing.

In spite of all the obstacles.

And as a result, The Leader is naming Wes Ridlon our Scarborough Spring Coach of the Year of a boys’ team for being a steady skipper from March through June.

Ridlon was a top pitcher for Deering at the end of the last century and was part of the Rams’ run to the 1999 and 2000 Class A titles under coach Mike D’Andrea.

Ridlon, who played at Bowdoin College, then spent time as an assistant with Portland and South Portland. He then assisted for four years at Scarborough, serving as D’Andrea’s right-hand man as the Red Storm took home a surprise 2019 Class A crown. He then took over the head job as D’Andrea left for Falmouth.

After the 2020 season was lost to the COVID pandemic, Ridlon went 38-14 in his first three seasons, but Scarborough was upset by Portland in the 2021 preliminary round, then twice was ousted by lower seeded Marshwood.

Then came the 2024 campaign, where the Red Storm were nearly perfect.

Scarborough, despite not having presumed ace Harrison Griffiths available to pitch due to an injury, started with seven successive victories, outscoring the opposition, 46 runs to 11. Then came May 7, when unheralded Deering came to the Kippy Mitchell Sports Complex and staggered the Red Storm with a seven-run first inning. Scarborough managed to battle back and tie the score, but the Rams pushed across a run in the top of the seventh, then prevailed in stunning fashion, 8-7.

“I don’t think we overlooked them, I think it’s just that we didn’t execute in all aspects of the game,” Ridlon lamented at the time. “What I’m most disappointed in is the mental execution. It’s baseball, anything can happen on any day.”

The season could have gone either way at that point, but the Red Storm responded like the champions they hoped to become, winning their final eight regular season games, including an inspirational, confidence-building 2-1 victory at preseason favorite Falmouth.

“Anytime you go against a Mike D’Andrea-coached team (Falmouth), you have to be on your game,” Ridlon said. “You have to beat the best to be the best.”

Scarborough earned the top seed for the Class A South tournament and this time, there would be no letdown. With the arms of senior Zak Sanders and junior Erik Swenson setting the tone and timely hitting and strong defense showing up consistently, the Red Storm knocked off Gorham (3-1) in the quarterfinals, avenged a pair of upsets with a 5-2 victory over Marshwood in the semifinals, then blanked Falmouth in the regional final (5-0), before handling Messalonskee (7-0) in the state final to cap the championship run, a surge which featured a 20-3 run differential.

“It’s a testament to the kids and the work they’ve put in since March,” Ridlon said. “They’ve believed since day one where we’d be. It’s very exciting. We weren’t dominant, but we were strong in every aspect.”

The Red Storm will be the hunted in 2025, but they’ll be primed for the challenge with Wes Ridlon, our boys’ team Spring Coach of the Year leading the way.

Previous Scarborough Spring Coaches of the Year (Forecaster)

• 2019 Mike D’Andrea (Scarborough baseball)
• 2016 Mike D’Andrea (Scarborough baseball)
• 2011 Craig MacDonald (Scarborough tennis)
• 2009 Jim Cronin (Scarborough baseball)
• 2008 Joe Hezlep (Scarborough lacrosse)
• 2007 Craig McDonald (Scarborough tennis)
• 2006 Tobey Farrington (Scarborough lacrosse)

Girls’ team

Denise Curry, outdoor track

Courtesy Scarborough Athletics

Scarborough’s indoor track team won the Class A state title, so the outdoor squad following suit wasn’t a huge surprise.

But the championship, the program’s first in over a decade, didn’t come easily and came largely because of the direction of Denise Curry, who got the absolute most out of a talented squad of dominant veterans, as well as some key newcomers.

And as a result, Denise Curry is The Leader’s choice as our Scarborough Coach of the Year of a girls’ team.

Curry coached at Windham for several seasons, then spent five years assisting Ron Kelly at Scarborough before ascending to the head coach’s position in 2023.

Scarborough’s indoor and outdoor girls’ teams each were runners-up Curry’s first season, but would have no peer this time around. After the Red Storm captured the indoor crown, they expected big things this spring.

And didn’t disappoint.

With junior sprinting standout extraordinaire Emerson Flaker leading the way and distance runners sophomore Laurel Driscoll and senior Kyleigh Record, along with sophomore jumper and pole vaulter Isabella Harmon, posting top finishes as well, Scarborough rolled past Falmouth to capture the league crown, then held off Bangor’s challenge to capture the state title.

There’s more to come.

Denise Curry, our girls’ team Spring Coach of the Year, has the Red Storm poised to be in contention for glory year after year.

Previous Scarborough Spring Coaches of the Year (Forecaster)

• 2022 Lincoln MacIsaac (Scarborough tennis)
* 2021 Emily Field (Scarborough lacrosse)
• 2019 Lincoln MacIsaac (Scarborough tennis)
• 2017 Tom Griffin (Scarborough softball)
• 2013 Tom Griffin (Scarborough softball)
• 2011 Marcia Wood (Scarborough lacrosse)
• 2008 Tom Griffin (Scarborough softball)
• 2007 Tom Griffin (Scarborough softball)
• 2003 Tom Griffin (Scarborough softball)