RUMFORD – When the Mountain Valley school board decided to cut his JV baseball program earlier this year, varsity coach Steve LaPointe envisioned some of his younger players holding javelins instead of baseballs and running to finish lines rather than bases.

The baseball season was quickly approaching, and LaPointe knew he would have to do something immediately or risk losing the future nucleus of his proud program.

“We lost some at the beginning,” LaPointe said. “I know my own son (Tristan) was going to throw shot put in track (but went back to baseball) and a couple more of them were thinking of doing the javelin and running. I looked at that and thought, ‘A couple of them may end up liking track. I’ve got to get them over here.'”

So LaPointe sent an e-mail to his prospective JV players and invited them to try out for the varsity team. He was expanding the roster, and while he couldn’t promise playing time to them, he could promise that they would be better baseball players at the end of the year.

Pat Knapp, a sophomore, was relieved to get the message.

“I’ve been playing baseball since I was really little, and if I wasn’t able to play baseball, I didn’t know what I was going to do,” Knapp said. “I thought I might do track, but I’ve never really done that before. So I was happy for the opportunity that Coach LaPointe gave us.”

The Falcons are carrying 19 players on their roster. Most seasons, they carry anywhere from 12 to 14. There’s not much room on the bench at their games, but there’s lots of competition at practice.

“Anytime we want to set up a full offense-defense scrimmage, we can,” LaPointe said. “It’s actually forced me to be a better coach organization-wise.”

LaPointe vowed to give each of his players at least two at bats this season. But the players insist that they’ve enjoyed this year, even though they’ve spent most of it on the bench. Getting a chance to scrimmage against the varsity and watch them compete against other good varsity squads has indeed made them better players, as they proved by drubbing the Dirigo JV in a recent scrimmage. They’ve also been impressed by the way the seniors on the club have taken them under their wing.

“I’ve learned a lot about hitting, and defensively I’ve watched a lot of the seniors make good plays, and they help me out if they see me doing anything wrong,” Knapp said.

The reserves haven’t just been warming the bench, though. They’ve contributed to the Falcons’ 10-4 record this season. Shawn Marr had the game-winning hit in their comeback win over Boothbay. Kevin Capponi scored the game-winning run on a squeeze play against Jay. Knapp drove in the Falcons’ only run in a blowout loss to Telstar.

LaPointe is hopeful that funding for a JV team will return next year. In the meantime, he’s glad his future stars have decided to stick with baseball.

“One thing I decided when I brought them back was, with the attitudes these kids have, they were all earning a varsity letter,” LaPointe said. “These kids come here every single day and work their rear ends off. When they’re asked to pinch hit or pinch run, they’re ready. On the bench, they’re always cheering, they’re always positive. They do everything you ask them to do.”