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Westbrook Baseball Had Foundational Aspirations for 2020

The Westbrook baseball squad had hoped to lay the foundations during a transition year in 2020 before the spring season was canceled due the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In 2019, the Knights qualified for the Class S State Tournament behind a senior-laden roster that went on a late-season surge. After a posting 3-11 record into the second half of the schedule, Westbrook finished the regular season on a six-game win streak to reach states. This year Head Coach Derek Hanssen’s squad would have had a solid crop of freshmen and modest expectations with a lot of room to surprise in the Shoreline Conference.

Coach Hanssen thought that the seniors of the previous season got to end their careers on a high note last year. That impressive run of wins will always be something to remember.

“We had to win six games in a row, and we rattled off a nice long winning streak. The seniors really came together,” said Hanssen. “It was a senior-heavy team that had the goal to make the tournament. Then, we ran into a tough Portland team, but it was a magical win streak that we rattled off.”

While the 2019 edition of the Knights featured eight seniors, this year would have seen that number reduced to just one. Coach Hanssen saw that diminished veteran presence as a typical phenomenon for a small school like Westbrook.

“When we talk about sports at Westbrook, we talk about cycles,” Hanssen said. “This year, we had a really strong freshman class coming in. We had at least 10 freshmen, but on the flip side we only had one senior.”

Senior captain Jack Farrell was slated to be that senior representative for Westbrook, and Coach Hanssen felt sympathetic to the fact that he wouldn’t get his shot at being that much-needed senior leader for the Knights.

“Historically, he’s been a really important role player at the utility position. This year, he would have been our primary catcher. He also would have pitched a bit, and he would have hit in the middle of the lineup,” Hanssen said. “He really did it all over the course of his career. He would play outfield, infield, catch, pitch; he did everything for us. I relied on him in a lot of ways. Playing the utility role is not always best for the individual player, but he never really complained or took it in a negative way.”

Coach Hanssen believed that this year would have been a nice cap to Farrell’s career. It would have been the perfect opportunity for Farrell to really show his leadership capabilities.

“Jack would have been in a more stable role and the primary team leader,” Hanssen said. “He was a very important player in terms of determining what our season would look like. It was going to come down to Jack and how the freshmen acclimated.”

Westbrook was also somewhat thin experience-wise in the sophomore and junior classes, but there were some players that Coach Hanssen was counting on. Juniors like Nick Palumbo, Zachary True, and Andrew Downey were in line to make a big impact with the Knights this season.

“In the junior class, there were a few players with experience. Nick Palumbo, played first base for us in previous years, but didn’t break into the line up too much. He would have had more of an opportunity this year,” Hanssen said. “True was a significant contributor in the outfield for us. Andrew Downey had no varsity experience prior to this year, but would have had an opportunity to break into the lineup for sure.”

The sophomore class also had some promising players that could have seen their games move to the next level this spring, like Trevor Hendrixson, Charlie Schneider, and Sam Freeman.”

“Trevor played a bit of infield last year when Tavish Ernst was hurt. Charlie would have gotten into the mix. They could have helped us out,” said Hanssen. “Sam got a lot of varsity time last year; way more than we would have expected. He would have been a player to move up in the lineup for us. I was hoping he would blossom as a big, strong corner-outfield type.”

One of the biggest concerns for Westbrook was pitching. Almost the entirety of the Knights’ pitching rotation and bullpen were made up seniors last year. Out of everyone on the roster only four players pitched at all last year. Coach Hanssen was looking for pitchers to show themselves during the preseason.

“We graduated most of our pitching from last year. Between Kyle Robison, Cameron Marshall, Connor Cruz, and David McCain, they were 95 percent of our innings,” said Coach Hanssen. “Jack Farrell, Trevor, Charlie, and Nick were all the guys who got any innings at all at the varsity level last year. We were bringing a lot of freshman in to pitchers and catchers. We also brought in older guys who may have pitched a little in middle school. We wanted to cobble together a staff and spread it around so we didn’t burn out any younger arms.”

Looking back at how the season was postponed and ultimately canceled, Coach Hanssen still felt as though it was a whirlwind when the news of major cancellations and closings were coming fast and furious. Coach Hanssen and his squad were on the precipice of the season getting started during that time.

“I had my pitching-practice plans and my baseball bag in the car. I posted to the team site the work out plan for the next morning. We were about 12 hours away from pitchers and catchers, then I got the call,” said Hanssen. “We were literally on the doorstep of the season starting. That weekend, everything started happening. We had the hope that we were going to take two weeks and be back, but then came the announcement of the schools closing. We had talks about baseball because it seemed being outside instead of an enclosed space was safer, but I think the state made the right decision.”

Coach Hanssen is unsure how everything will play out over the next year. There is some hope with the CIAC releasing guidelines for remote coaching into the summer that there could be an opportunity for something resembling baseball games to take place this year outside of the high school season. He just hopes that seniors who had their last season taken away by the pandemic get some way to cap their high school years.

“I’ve had a bit of contact with the team. We had a video chat when on our first game was supposed to be played. It seems like things are moving forward with new guidance from the state. There’s a road map with virtual coaching,” said Hanssen. “I wonder what comes of this all. Is the Babe Ruth League going to be invigorated with high school coaches and athletes? Will American Legion fill the void? How fast can that all get put together? You could have a multi-town shoreline thing, that would be really neat.”