Oak Hill’s underclassmen prove they can make the grade.
By Randy Whitehouse
Staff Writer

WALES – Some Oak Hill fans will look out on the Gorham High School diamond Saturday and see seven juniors and a sophomore wearing the Dodger-like white, blue and red Raider uniforms.

Junior first baseman/pitcher Pat Duchette will look out on the field and see a bunch of teammates who have sweated along side him for a long time to get the Raiders to their first state championship game since 1986.

“We don’t look at each other by grade,” Duchette said. “We’re all pretty much the same age. I don’t care if you’re a freshman, a junior or senior. We’re all close.”

When he began this, his 27th season as Oak Hill coach, Bill Fairchild wasn’t concerned that he had just two seniors on his roster. He knew that whether the Raiders were experienced enough or good enough to play for a state championship didn’t hinge on how they jelled this season alone.

“It’s been three years of building up, playing summer ball, working hard all winter, with a goal,” Fairchild said.

Adam Shaffstall is a sophomore third baseman playing on an infield that has played together since they were nine years old. They’ve played farm league, Little League, Babe Ruth and American Legion baseball together. Years of playing and practicing together have prepared the Raiders for this, the school’s first state championship game in 17 years.

“It’s just knowing the guy next to you is going to make the plays,” Shaffstall said. “It’s looking over at (junior Adam) Labbe at short and knowing what pitch is going to be thrown next just by how he positions himself. He doesn’t have to say a word.”

Possessing such confidence in themselves and their teammates didn’t happen overnight. Though they’ve come so far for such a young team, the Raiders still paid their dues.

“When these guys were freshmen, there were some opponents that put it to us on purpose,” Fairchild said. “That kind of sent the message that we can be better.”

They got much better, finishing 14-5 last season and making it to the regional semifinal. Taking the next step to a championship contender just seemed like a natural progression.

The Raiders met and even exceeded expectations early in the season, rocketing out to a 10-0 start. But then they hit a rough spot, losing three of their last five regular season games.

The players and their coach agree that it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing for the team to get knocked down a couple of pegs before the playoffs started.

“They’ve handled this season very well. There’s been some really tough expectations on these kids,” Fairchild said.” We had that one week where we had a little bit of a lapse of emotion. They’ve had to learn that you can’t wait until later in baseball. You’ve got to get it done now.”

“I think the main thing with us is the preparation was there the whole time,” said Duchette. “And then before the playoffs, actually even a couple of games before the playoffs, we realized this is our season. Anything up to that point didn’t really matter. Once we realized that, we just started playing so much better. Everyone’s game is stepping up.”

After years of preparing themselves to become a good enough team to make, and win in, the playoffs, the Raiders prepared for the this postseason by playing and practicing with a greater sense of urgency.

“Just before the playoffs started, we were just like this in practice,” Shaffstall said, snapping his fingers quickly three times to signify the Raiders’ efficiency. “We didn’t let any balls drop. It was just like game time in practice.”

“Our practices are a little more crisp than your average high school team,” he added.

All that sweat, whether it was shed three years ago or three days ago, has paid off in spades during the playoffs. Oak Hill has outscored its opponents, 10-1. The defense has made just one error in the three games.

“In the last two weeks I think we’ve played as good a baseball as has been played at Oak Hill in a long time,” Fairchild said.

It’s been a long time coming.