Latest / Newsradio WGAN / Hooffer's High School Sports

Transcript

Hooffer's High School Sports · Newsradio WGAN

• 0:00
  With Michael Hoffer from Hoffer's High School Sports, who
• 0:02
  is joining us once again right now.
• 0:05
  Mike, how are things? Things are good, Matt.
• 0:07
  It's been a good week. How are you?
• 0:08
  Not too bad, I appreciate you asking.
• 0:10
  It has indeed been a good week and I'd like to start off this
• 0:13
  time by talking about softball. I noticed your description of
• 0:17
  the latest outing by Addison Deroche as one that is running
• 0:22
  out of adjectives to describe how awesome she is. 20 KS in the
• 0:27
  game and she also homered. Tell me, I know that we've
• 0:30
  talked about her a little bit. Obviously she's attracting in a
• 0:32
  great deal of attention across the state.
• 0:34
  Clearly the best, the best pitcher in the state right now.
• 0:36
  Tell me a little bit about, of course this performance, but
• 0:40
  also her in general and, and what we're what we've seen out
• 0:43
  of her already and what her plans for after high school are
• 0:45
  too, because I know that there's some of those.
• 0:48
  Yeah, I mean, she's just really remarkable.
• 0:50
  And, you know, you think of someone that comes into high
• 0:52
  school with with that kind of attention and with that kind of
• 0:56
  a reputation, and, you know, it could be overwhelming.
• 0:59
  And she wound up proving to be better than anyone could have
• 1:02
  dreamed. I mean, she had a freshman
• 1:04
  season for the ages. She had a fabulous sophomore
• 1:07
  year, too. You know, Shevers didn't win
• 1:08
  last year, win them, beat them in the regional final.
• 1:11
  But you know, you look at her numbers for the last two seasons
• 1:14
  and they're just I mean, her ERA is miniscule and her strikeout
• 1:17
  numbers are stratospheric. And it's just and she can hit
• 1:20
  the ball too. She can crush the ball on top of
• 1:21
  the top of the great pitching. But you know, in the offseason,
• 1:25
  she verbally committed to Florida State.
• 1:28
  And I think that that decision probably took a lot of weight
• 1:30
  off her shoulders. I mean, I noticed that she's
• 1:33
  she's having more fun this year. She seems like there's a lot
• 1:35
  less pressure. I think she's just completely
• 1:38
  got to the point where she's used to, you know, the attention
• 1:41
  and, and, and the pressure and it really doesn't phase her at
• 1:44
  all. And she's come out this year and
• 1:46
  she's locked 2 batters. I think she's given up eight or
• 1:48
  nine hits in in six outings, just two runs and 95 strikeouts
• 1:53
  now and and something like 37 innings.
• 1:55
  I mean, you really can't even make these numbers up.
• 1:58
  And that's what I mean by you. I just I you know, I have a
• 2:00
  pretty good vocabulary, but I can't come up with with the
• 2:03
  words describe this. It's remarkable.
• 2:05
  And and to think that we've had a player like this in our midst
• 2:08
  and, you know, hopefully we're going to get her for one more
• 2:10
  year. I mean, all signs are she's
• 2:11
  going to stay at servers for all four years.
• 2:13
  And I think when she came into high school, most people didn't
• 2:15
  expect that. So it's really a treat for main
• 2:18
  softball fans and, you know, even the teams that she plays
• 2:21
  and even the players that, you know, strike out against her, I
• 2:23
  mean, they they're going to be able to tell their grandkids
• 2:25
  someday. They played against arguably the
• 2:26
  greatest softball player to ever come through the state.
• 2:29
  And, you know, if someone does draw a walk off her, it's a big
• 2:32
  deal. If someone gets a hit off her,
• 2:33
  it's a huge deal. And when it seems scores a run
• 2:36
  like Gorham did yesterday and it actually came on a wild pitch,
• 2:39
  you know, they're celebrating like they won the game.
• 2:41
  So it's just it's it's really cool to see someone like that
• 2:44
  that's so successful. But more importantly than
• 2:46
  anything, she's a fantastic kid. She's so grounded.
• 2:49
  She's not about herself at all. She constantly deflects praise
• 2:52
  to her teammates and she just gets better and better and
• 2:55
  kinder and kinder and she's everything you'd want a student
• 2:58
  athlete to be. What does she throw for speed?
• 3:00
  I mean did we enemy clock her at this point?
• 3:03
  I, you know, I think she's in the 60s, which, you know, it
• 3:05
  doesn't sound like for much, but in softball, she's 42 feet away.
• 3:10
  You know, it's remarkable. I don't think she's quite at the
• 3:11
  level where the elite softball pitchers, college pitchers are
• 3:14
  at this point, you know, but give her another year or two to,
• 3:17
  you know, get bigger and stronger.
• 3:18
  And, you know, there's a reason that pretty much every big
• 3:21
  school in the country was after her.
• 3:23
  And she had many, many, many options as far as where to go.
• 3:26
  And I think that Florida State program is pretty strong.
• 3:29
  So they're going to get the most out of her.
• 3:30
  You know, we're just beginning to hear about her.
• 3:32
  And I just encourage everyone that's a fan to to check her out
• 3:35
  while she's still here because those four years go very quickly
• 3:39
  and this season's going very quickly.
• 3:41
  No, it is obviously in the softball picture.
• 3:43
  Outside of her and and the team and chevres and whatnot, what
• 3:47
  else is going on here? What else are we seeing around
• 3:49
  the world of softball in the last week or so?
• 3:52
  Yeah, one of the best stories for me this season is kind of
• 3:54
  the resurgence of Scarborough and for like the better part of
• 3:56
  20 years, you know, at the discussion of the top teams
• 3:59
  began and end with them. They've had a couple down years
• 4:02
  and they really bounced back this season.
• 4:03
  They had a close loss at Wyndham yesterday, but just the fact
• 4:06
  that they can compete with Wyndham and go toe to toe was
• 4:09
  very impressive. And you know, we seeing Chevrus
• 4:12
  kind of leading the way here, but there's several teams right
• 4:14
  after them kind of battling for that 2 and that two and that
• 4:17
  three seed. And that's going to be really
• 4:19
  important for playoff time because if you finish two or
• 4:21
  three, you can see that we wouldn't play Chevrus till the
• 4:24
  regional final. And if you finish two, you get 2
• 4:26
  home playoff games. So you know, right now you've
• 4:28
  got Gorham and Windham and Westbrook and Scarborough kind
• 4:30
  of all in that mixed Bonnie Eagle.
• 4:31
  I shouldn't forget about them. So you've really got five teams
• 4:35
  jockeying for to finish as high as you can.
• 4:37
  And they're all pretty even. They've all got some good
• 4:39
  players, some good pitchers. So you know, right now Chevis is
• 4:43
  light years ahead of everyone else.
• 4:44
  But you know, you never know in A1 game situation for, you know,
• 4:48
  softball, baseball, anything can happen.
• 4:49
  You have one bad pitch, one bad play in the field, your bats go
• 4:53
  cold. So it's going to be interesting
• 4:55
  to see just you know who can finish two, who can finish three
• 4:58
  and then you know who who has a dreaded four or five spot which
• 5:02
  which would set up a semi final round date with the Stags.
• 5:04
  It would, indeed. All right, well, let's turn our
• 5:06
  attention over to the world of baseball on the other side of
• 5:08
  the diamond. How is how are things going on
• 5:12
  the baseball side here? I did notice that my Yarmouth
• 5:14
  Clippers got a couple wins in a row there and got back to 500,
• 5:17
  although they just played Cape and dropped that game.
• 5:20
  So at least the resurgence is starting to happen and I'm a
• 5:23
  very happy guy from that. Tell me, though, about what
• 5:25
  you're seeing across the rest of the the southern region.
• 5:29
  Yeah, I mean, that's true. I mean, kudos to Yarmouth.
• 5:32
  They had a tough year last year, as you know, and you know,
• 5:34
  they're starting to to bounce back and you know, no one's
• 5:37
  feeling sorry for them having won the 2024 state title and
• 5:40
  playing in the 2023 state game. So it hasn't exactly been a
• 5:43
  protracted stretch of agony for the Clippers, but they are
• 5:46
  coming back and you know, BSI don't know if there's a clear,
• 5:48
  it looked like really was going to be the clear favorite and
• 5:50
  they they turn around and lose 2 games in a row.
• 5:52
  I know what. Happened there.
• 5:53
  That's that's all. I don't know.
• 5:54
  I mean I think Freiburg Academy is is living up to pre season
• 5:58
  billing. They're really tough.
• 5:59
  Cape Elizabeth, though, you certainly is good like always.
• 6:03
  They get greatly today for the first of two meetings.
• 6:05
  The teams play again next week. So that's still shaking out on
• 6:09
  class. ASI think, you know, some of the
• 6:11
  top teams are starting to separate themselves.
• 6:12
  And I think you have to start with South Portland.
• 6:15
  They have they they're undefeated at this point.
• 6:18
  And they got a couple of masterful pitching performances
• 6:21
  last week from Hudson Iaquesta, who threw a new header.
• 6:24
  And then then he threw a perfect game and and he drove in a bunch
• 6:27
  of runs with his bat. He's kind of the male Addison
• 6:29
  Deroche, if you will, or you know, he's just been utterly
• 6:32
  dominant and his team is taking advantage.
• 6:34
  So they're off to a great start. You know, Gorham certainly
• 6:36
  looking good TA starting to put it together.
• 6:39
  Service has really put that together a remarkable bounce
• 6:42
  back season and you know, I wouldn't write off Scarborough
• 6:45
  at this point. So there's several teams in the
• 6:47
  mix and the good thing is they're all going to start
• 6:49
  playing each other here as we get into the second-half of the
• 6:51
  season. They will indeed.
• 6:52
  You have any games upcoming this week that you're really looking
• 6:55
  forward to that that are worth my paying attention to perhaps?
• 6:59
  Well, you know, if the weather cooperates, I haven't seen the
• 7:01
  go on baseball team yet. They're they're scheduled to be
• 7:03
  at Falmouth on Thursday. That's a game that that I would
• 7:05
  love to check out. We'll see.
• 7:07
  We'll see whether that one happens or not.
• 7:08
  You like I said, we've got to keep Greeley playing for the
• 7:10
  first time today. So you know, these these games
• 7:13
  are starting to happen. TA just played Scarborough
• 7:15
  yesterday, another matchup of contenders that was a playoff
• 7:18
  rematch and like they did last June, TA prevailed.
• 7:21
  So I think, you know, they're a team that struggled early on,
• 7:24
  but I think they're really going to come on and be there at the
• 7:26
  end. And then finally, I suppose we
• 7:28
  can get into lacrosse a little bit.
• 7:29
  Obviously tons of stuff going on there.
• 7:32
  What have we been seeing in the last week?
• 7:34
  I got a chance to finally check out the TA boys who are the
• 7:36
  defending state champs and they're looking really good.
• 7:39
  They had a decisive win at Cape. It looks like, you know, TA and
• 7:42
  Falmouth are at the top of the heap again there.
• 7:44
  But I think keep an eye out on the Yarmouth.
• 7:46
  They moved up to Class A after winning the last two Class B
• 7:50
  titles and got a chance to see them really take apart during
• 7:53
  the other day. They feel like they belong in
• 7:55
  Class A and they're looking forward to measuring themselves
• 7:58
  against Falmouth and against TA, and they'll get to do that later
• 8:01
  this month. So, you know, don't overlook
• 8:03
  them. I think they're looking really
• 8:05
  strong. And on the girls side, Kennebunk
• 8:07
  kind of separated itself a little bit.
• 8:09
  You know, Wyndham's discovering that it's it's easier to do the
• 8:11
  hunter than the hunt did when they won 17 straight games last
• 8:15
  year and put the championship this year.
• 8:17
  Everyone's gunning for them. They already lost, you know, our
• 8:20
  game earlier on and then let you know the other day they they go
• 8:23
  down to the feet against Yarmouth, you know, following up
• 8:26
  their loss to TA. So they've actually lost twice
• 8:28
  as many games as they did a year ago.
• 8:30
  I still think they're going to be there at the end.
• 8:32
  I think Yarmouth's A-Team that's really coming on game.
• 8:35
  I'm looking forward to tonight. Falmouth and Chevres 2A, very
• 8:38
  talented contenders. That's coming off their first
• 8:41
  loss against Wyndham. But Severus really on a roll.
• 8:44
  The Brunel sisters have been fabulous.
• 8:46
  They're scoring a ton of goals. They're a team that feels like
• 8:49
  they have what it takes to make a deep, deep run and they're
• 8:51
  going to be tough to stop. So that's that's that sports
• 8:54
  just getting enjoyable, really enjoyable.
• 8:57
  The best is yet to come for the the boys and the girls and a lot
• 9:00
  of big games still still to come on the slate there.
• 9:03
  I skipped over the athlete of the week, by the way, when we
• 9:06
  were talking about baseball. So sure, no hitter and perfect
• 9:10
  game. Perfect yes, now, granted both
• 9:12
  were five inning wins, but you know, regardless, pretty
• 9:15
  impressive stuff And then, you know, several hits and RBI is
• 9:18
  mixed in in those games that you know, Hudson Aya class like he
• 9:21
  doesn't just pitch. He also plays first base.
• 9:23
  He's going to be going to Stone Hill College next year.
• 9:26
  That's AD one program and you know, he has just shown that
• 9:30
  that he can do it all and you know, a great left-handed
• 9:33
  pitcher, very tough to hit great command of the strike zone.
• 9:36
  He can, you know, he can bring it and then you know, just he
• 9:39
  just has that classic left-handed swing.
• 9:41
  I know you love I do as a hitter.
• 9:43
  So you know, he can he can hit and hit for power.
• 9:45
  He really he does it all. And he was a he was certainly a
• 9:49
  worthy recipient when you think of how dominant he was last
• 9:52
  week. Well, I got an 18 month old
• 9:54
  who's swinging left-handed and throwing left-handed, so I guess
• 9:56
  he's got a, he's got a new idol to look at, that's for sure.
• 10:00
  I'd better stick around another 15 years to cover him.
• 10:03
  It'll be a fun time, that's for sure.
• 10:04
  Michael Hoffer from Hoffer's High School Sports.
• 10:06
  Make sure you keep paying attention to the website, of
• 10:09
  course, today because the Super 6 polls get released and all
• 10:11
  that fun stuff as well. So it's offers high school
• 10:13
  sports.com and make sure you subscribe while you're there.
• 10:16
  Thanks as always, Michael, and we'll talk again next Tuesday.