HEBRON – As a science teacher and an astronomer, Gino Valeriani normally scoffs at astrology. But even he thinks Hebron Academy’s success this spring may have been in the stars.

“The planets must have been aligned or something,” said Valeriani, a teacher/track coach at the private school.

Indeed, it was a rare season at Hebron. Already celebrating its bicentennial this year, the venerable private school is also basking in the five MAISAD championships it won this spring. Four of the five teams collected their hardware on May 15.

“It was really fun that weekend,” said softball coach Steve Middleton. “Everyone came back with trophies.”

Athletic director Leslie Guenther says she can’t recall another season, spring, fall or winter, where the school enjoyed so much athletic success.

“It was exciting,” she said. “We’ve had fall seasons where we’ve had good soccer success, but maybe not field hockey or cross country or football. This was remarkable.”

Hebron took home MAISAD (Maine Association of Independent Schools) titles in four varsity sports – boys’ track and field, girls’ lacrosse, softball and baseball – and one junior varsity sport, boys’ lacrosse.

Valeriani’s track squad dominated Hyde, North Yarmouth Academy and old nemesis Elan at the league championship on May 8, tallying 108 points, 32 points better than their nearest competitor. The team enjoyed first place finishes from Auburn’s Jeff Sloat (discus, shot put) and Chris Nadeau of Sabattus (pole vault).

“I really can’t remember when we won MAISAD’s last,” said Valeriani, in his 25th year at Hebron. “It was probably before Elan was part of the mix.”

The team went on to compete in the New England Prep School Association Division III championships on May 15 in Rhode Island and finished third out of 16 teams.

“One of the keys to our program this year was not just the great attitudes the kids had, but the coverage of our team was good for a change. We had something in just about every event,” Valeriani said. “This is just one of those seasons you remember for quite a while.”

Both the girls’ lacrosse team and softball team had to conquer their biggest nemesis to walk away with their crowns. The lacrosse team had to travel to Bethel to face Gould, which had handed Hebron two one-goal losses during the regular season. Hebron returned the favor when it mattered most, however, beating the Huskies 7-6. Alex Chabot of Poland tallied one of Hebron’s goals.

The softball team suffered similar frustration at the hands of Kents Hill, which handed it two of its four losses this season. The championship game started out looking like it would be more of the same.

“We were down 7-0 after the first inning,” said Middleton, “but we hung in there and came back. It was 10-7 in the seventh, and we scored four runs in the seventh to win 11-10.”

Led by pitchers Julia Nyitray and Sarah Irish and fielders Katherine Cole of New Gloucester and Daniella Lyons of Greene, Hebron went on to beat Gould in the championship game, 11-6.

The varsity baseball squad won some even wilder games on its way to its championship. They outlasted second-seeded Gould in a 17-16 slugfest as Auburn’s Jeff Scammon broke a 12-12 tie in the sixth with a grand slam to send Hebron to the final.

Offense got Hebron to the title game, but pitching won the championship. Liam Gray of Clarksdale, MS tossed a complete game four-hitter in a 6-1 upset over No. 1 Kents Hill.

“It seemed like we were underdogs in everything,” Guenther said. “Baseball got off to a 2-5 start and barely had a .500 season (7-7). Girls lacrosse came alive after a rough start. It was sort of a late-blossoming season.”