Mike Mandell

1 month ago | pressherald.com | Mike Mandell |Bob Aube

Jack Cosgrove embraced the peculiarities of New England Small College Athletic Conference football when he was named Colby College’s head coach in 2018. But there was one that he couldn’t understand. Going back to 1973, the NESCAC barred all its athletic teams from competing in the NCAA Division III playoffs in order to maintain a focus on conference championships. The conference changed course in 1993-94, when it allowed teams in all sports except football to compete for national championships.

1 month ago | sports.yahoo.com | Mike Mandell

May 2—READFIELD — As the two swapped places in the middle of the sixth inning, Eric Brown and John Novak had a brief exchange indicative of how this game had gone from the opening pitch. "I hope you brought your blood-pressure medicine today," Brown, Maranacook's baseball coach, jokingly told Novak, his Winthrop counterpart. AdvertisementFor both good and bad — big hits, strikeouts, errors, blown leads, big comebacks — this was a game that caused a lot of stress.

1 month ago | centralmaine.com | Mike Mandell

Messalonskee was the only team from the central Maine area to win a regional title last year and is expected to contend in Class A North again this spring. The Eagles should have company as state title contenders this spring. With the high school season set to kick off this week, here’s a look at one team from each class to watch with a chance to make a postseason run. CLASS A: MESSALONSKEEMessalonskee went 16-4 and won the Class A North title last season and returns the bulk of its roster.

1 month ago | centralmaine.com | Mike Mandell

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1 month ago | pressherald.com | Mike Mandell

There’s a big difference in Blair Doucette’s early assessment of his team’s 2025 schedule and the one the Messalonskee football team played a year ago. Four of the eight teams the Eagles are scheduled to play this fall are teams they didn’t play in 2024. Three of them — Cheverus, Fryeburg Academy and Leavitt — Messalonskee hasn’t played in at least 20 years.