LEWISTON — Last spring, for the first time since Little League, Corbin Hyde peered in for a sign from his catcher and didn’t see his older brother, Mekae.

Lewiston High School’s Hyde brothers grew up in a baseball-loving family. Their father, Jim, was a state champion at Oak Hill 30 years ago and coached his sons through Little League. Corbin, a year younger than Mekae, always played up a level to stay with his brother and father.

As close as the brothers are, though, last season showed they aren’t inseparable on the diamond. In fact, while Mekae’s catching was curtailed by a right-knee injury, Corbin set a modern Lewiston record last year with his microscopic 0.29 ERA.

But Corbin is quick to admit he’s glad his brother is healthy and back wearing the catcher’s gear this season.

“Having my brother behind the plate helps a lot because he knows my pitches and how they move,” said Corbin, a junior.

Last year, the combination of Corbin’s pitching and Mekae’s hitting helped Lewiston reach the playoffs, then vaulted Gayton Post to its first American Legion state title.

This year, the brothers lead a veteran and talented Lewiston team that expects to build off of last year’s success and finds itself in a rare position for Blue Devils baseball — among the favorites in the KVAC.

“We think if we can do it there, we can do it here,” said Mekae, a senior. “It’s pretty much the same team besides two or three kids, so we have some confidence. But we need to do it out there on the field, too.”

Raw talent

As comforting as it is for Corbin to see a familiar face inside the catcher’s mask, Mekae needs to be squatting behind the dish even more. He suffered the injury sliding early last season, so he was limited to DHing and playing the outfield, rather than the position he’s worked so hard to perfect. The fact that several different doctors each gave him different diagnoses added to the frustration.

“It was tough,” Mekae said. “I feel like I do better at the plate when I catch because I’m more into the game.”

Mekae still managed to lead the team with a .447 batting average and four home runs.

“He hits the ball hard,” Lewiston coach Todd Cifelli said. “He hits it harder than a lot of his peers.”

Few of his peers have the talent or experience Mekae has going into his senior year. Impressed with his raw talent, Cifelli added him to the Gayton Post American Legion team the summer before his freshman year. Mekae felt a little intimidate playing with and against much older, sometimes six years his senior, and more refined players.

“He had more trust in me than I had in myself at the time,” Mekae said.

“He was a fast learner and he was very talented, but more than that, he yearned to learn more,” Cifelli said.

Mekae battled through injuries his freshman year at Lewiston, then emerged as a sophomore, finishing second on the team in RBIs and third in hitting.

As good as he was offensively, Mekae most impressed Cifelli with the strides he made defensively.

He put in long hours during recent off-seasons working at Frozen Ropes with Nick Caiazzo, a former minor league catcher in the Brewers organization. Mekae credits  the former Deering star with teaching him everything he knows about catching.

Despite all of his coaching and experience, he knows he still has a lot to learn about the game.

“At the end of the day, he doesn’t have all of the answers, and I appreciate that,” Cifelli said.

Mekae started catching again during the Legion season, but he sat out his last year of varsity basketball to make sure the knee had time to recover and get stronger. He said it now feels 100 percent and he’s looking forward to catching his brother and fellow seniors Jeff Keene and Joe Sullivan.

Like brother …

If nothing else, Mekae has set a fine example for his brother in terms of work ethic.

“He’s a blue-collar, pull yourself up by your bootstraps type of worker,” Cifelli said.

Unlike his brother, Corbin didn’t immediately have his spot carved out in the varsity lineup as a freshman. He played his way into spot duty at first base and on the mound, then improved enough over the following summer to become a more prominent part of Cifelli’s plans for his sophomore year.

But like his brother, Corbin had to overcome an injury last year, a concussion suffered in the first month of the season. If anything, though, the injury made him stronger.

“When he came back, he was throwing a lot harder than he was before. He has a good off-speed, so the higher velocity helps,” Mekae said.

Corbin led the team in wins (4-0) and strikeouts (26 in 24.1 innings) while emerging as one of Cifelli’s go-to pitchers in big games.

“What’s awesome about Corbin is he’s a guy who’s never afraid of the challenge,” Cifelli said. “He had some big starts in the spring. He had a big win over Brunswick against their stud pitcher. He threw in the playoff game (against Brewer). He gutted out a win against Nova Seafood in the (state) Legion tournament. He stranded runners in our win at the regional.”

Corbin gained more confidence last fall playing with Mekae on Caiazzo’s college prospect team. This spring, he has been working with Lewiston’s new pitching coach, Craig Rogers, the former Mt. Ararat coach and father of Brewers prospect Mark Rogers.

“He teaches me new things, plus he’s watched (Mark) and his son has taught him some stuff,” Corbin said. “He’s teaching how to get my curveball to work better and changing my form a little which I think will help me a lot.”

“He’s always been a good pitcher,” Mekae said. “But this year I think he’s taking a big step.”

Corbin isn’t daunted by those high expectations, and doesn’t think the Blue Devils will be, either.

 “We just have to do the little things, keep playing like we know how,” Corbin said. “I don’t think the pressure will get to us too much if we stick to that kind of baseball.”