You can’t get from any of the eight communities that send students to Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School to Franklin Pierce College without two hours and a good map.
Then again, folks around the campus in Rindge, N.H., might swear there’s a baseball pipeline from Point A to Point B.
Vikings have evolved into Ravens at a dramatic rate in recent seasons. First, it was catcher Eric Cavers who smashed a smattering of school records before he was drafted into professional baseball by the Houston Astros.
Garrett Olson and Tyler Cummings might be next.
Olson, a sophomore third baseman, is hitting .378, while strapping right-handed pitcher Cummings is a hard-luck 3-3 with a 2.13 ERA. And Franklin Pierce (21-9) is enjoying its third consecutive week at No. 29 in the Collegiate Baseball Magazine NCAA Division II poll.
There’s been no second-year slump for Olson, who’s added 40 points to his batting average while boosting his power numbers to include five home runs (tied for third on the team) and 18 RBIs. Olson also has 23 stolen bases in 26 career attempts.
During the offseason, Olson was a second team all-star in the New England Collegiate Baseball League for the Keene Swamp Bats.
Cummings has recovered from an injury-plagued sophomore year in which he was expected to emerge as the staff ace. He has fanned 19 hitters while walking only five, comparable to his career ratio in those categories.
He went 8-4 as a freshman, setting a Ravens record for wins by a first-year pitcher while hurling five complete games. Last year, although Cummings was limited to only 27 innings, he still averaged more than a strikeout per inning.
They’re hoping to follow in the footsteps of Cavers, a 10th-round choice in the 2004 amateur draft. Cavers was the first All-America position player in Franklin Pierce history. The catcher owns the school record with 57 career stolen bases.
Cavers played 18 games with the Greeneville (Tenn.) Astros of the Class-A Appalachian League last summer.
Locals stay on track
Three area athletes launched the University of Maine men’s and women’s track and field teams to victory at the Holy Cross Invitational in Worcester, Mass., last weekend.
Stephanie McCusker of Lisbon maintained her mastery of the high jump, covering 10.77 meters as she and teammate Carly Bunyan went one-two in the event.
Maine swept the top three positions in the women’s 100-meter hurdles with Kathryn Souviney and Courtney Francis just ahead of Wilton’s Heather Groder.
On the men’s side, Fryeburg Academy graduate Mike Lansing won the 5,000 meters with a time of 15:11.83. He also finished third in the 1,500.
Rookie makes a racquet
University of Southern Maine men’s tennis player Mike Burke was named Little East Conference rookie of the week for the period ending April 17.
Burke, a freshman from Lewiston, logged two straight-set single victories and a doubles triumph during that stretch. The next week, Burke backed it up with two doubles wins and a singles score.
In another local tie, Lewiston’s Boonthai Singcharern has rejoined the Huskies as an assistant coach after his successful playing career in Gorham.
Lewiston gymnast propels Pride
One member of the 2005 New England champion men’s gymnastics team at Springfield (Mass.) College was a Lewiston native.
Junior Shawn Fournier competed for Springfield, which also finished sixth at the ECAC Championships and third in the USA Gymnastics Collegiate Championship.
Fournier, who trained at Andy Valley School of Gymnastics, performed floor exercise, pommel horse and high bar for the Pride.
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