Dexter high school 2021 baseball preview.
Coach: Chad Graffam
2019 – 6-11 (lost to Bucksport in quarterfinal)
Parker Ponte (SR), Brett Kusnierz (SR), and Nathan Fernald (JR) are the returning players from the 2019 squad.
“They (the returning players) will be our team captains for 2021,”Graffam said. We will look to them for leadership in the early going.”
Expectations: Graffam said. “Our expectations will be simple, compete and be better each day. We will work hard and see where that takes us. There are alot of unknown pieces that will have to be put together which makes my job fun and I’m very much looking forward to working with these young men.”
The Tigers will have a young and versatile team, which will be a challenge and a strength.
“The challenge with this season will be easing the younger guys in and keeping their confidence high while trying to win games. If we have a strength early on it will be versatility. We have a bunch of young kids that can play numerous positions competing for spots,”Graffam said. “With six open positions to fill we have seven or eight young kids that could fill them.”
The Tigers have five seniors, one junior, eight sophomores, and four freshmen.
“Sophomores Payson Rienhardt, Will Kusnierz, Bryce Connor, Ben Bourgoin, Kayden Kimball, Wyatt Farnham are all vying for spots in the line-up along with Freshman Will Spratt,”Graffam said. “We have seniors Robbie Dorman and Hunter Dean also trying to make an impact with this being their final high school season.
The Tigers will have a deep pitching staff of strike throwers.
“We have 10 or 11 kids that will throw strikes and compete on the mound which should help us compete each game,”Graffam said “Offensively we will be young and inexperienced. I think we will come into our own but it might take a few games to get comfortable with actual live pitching, it’s been a long time since some of these kids have seen a live pitcher.
The Tigers schedule will look a bit different than in past years. Searsport, MCI, and Nokomis has been added to the schedule. Bucksport and George Stevens are no longer on the schedule. Dexter will still compete against Central, PCHS, Penquis, Orono, Mattanawcook, and Foxcroft.
“There are several good players back all over our league so competition should be good each game but I believe we will all struggle with inexperience due to our situations,”Graffam said. “I’m happy for these athletes that have lost so much to be finally getting a chance to compete for championships again. The kids have suffered the most both academically and athletically. Hopefully we all stay healthy and safe and compete each day.”
The Tigers are scheduled to open the regular season at Searsport on April 23rd. The home opener is scheduled for April 27th against Foxcroft Academy.
