By Randy Whitehouse,Staff Writer

RUMFORD – Marcus Palmer reported to Hosmer Field yesterday feeling a little uncomfortable. He was still feeling the affects of having his wisdom teeth removed on Thursday.

That may have been the only time Palmer gets knocked out this spring. Mountain Valley coach Steve LaPointe won’t have to get the hook out very much, if at all, when his junior No. 1 starter is toeing the rubber for the Falcons.

LaPointe hasn’t had to pull Palmer from the mound often over the last two years. He showed poise beyond his years as a freshman and sophomore, and he’s prepared to take over as the leader of Mountain Valley’s pitching staff.

“Coming in as a junior and being the No. 1 guy, yeah, I can feel a little bit of pressure,” he said. “But I know I can pitch at this level and be the No. 1 guy.”

Palmer’s quiet confidence is based on the 10-1 record he posted in his first two years.

As a sophomore, he was an honorable mention on the Sun Journal All-State squad after going 7-0, striking out a little more than a batter an inning while walking just seven in 47 innings.

He’s also confident because he knows he doesn’t have to overpower opposing batters to get outs.

“Our defense is unreal. As a pitcher you kind of like that,” he said. “Knowing we have a pretty good defense lightens the weight a little bit.”

“He’s fun for kids to play behind, because he throws strikes, he works fast. If you make an error, he’ll never say a bad word to you,” LaPointe said.

“He’s just a kid having fun out there.”

It should be less fun to face Palmer this year. A fastball/curve ball pitcher his first two years, he added a slider and a change-up to his repertoire this year.

“The slider I’m catching on to. The change-up, I don’t really have too much control on that right now,” he said.

Palmer can throw his pitches at various arm angles, giving hitters not only different pitches but different looks to think about. They probably aren’t going to outthink Palmer, though. Pitching runs through his veins, from his father, Mark, who played at Rumford High School, to his older brothers, Travis and Ryan, who preceded him on the Hosmer hill for Mountain Valley.

“He can throw everything for strikes,” LaPointe said. “He drops down to the side sometimes and he can throw the sidearm breaking ball, which has kind of been passed down through the family.

Ryan, an all-conference second baseman and pitcher who graduated in 2000, is now an assistant to LaPointe. The brothers aren’t prone to dissect every game, he said, because it’s not Marcus’ style.

“He’s normally very quiet,” Ryan said. “He’ll show no emotion after a game. He’ll never talk about if he threw real well or real bad.”

“Sometimes you’ve got to try not to be his brother. His freshman year, especially, that was kind of tough,” he added. “If he ever needs any advice, I’ll give it to him.”

“(Having an older brother as a coach) can go both ways, because if you do something wrong, you know you’re going to hear about it at home,” Marcus said with a grin. “He helps a lot when it’s time for the game, because when the inning ends he can talk about what you can do different. He’s pretty good to have around.”

The same can be said for Marcus, who handles his other position, shortstop, with the same aplomb.

“He’s a very intelligent baseball player,” LaPointe said. “He takes things in stride, never really seems to get upset. He’s never too high after a win, never too low after a loss.”