Davis, Lapointe give Mainers local
flavor
By Al Pike, Foster's Democrat
SANFORD, Maine — When Kyle Davis used to attend Sanford
Mainers games with his dad he idolized the players. Now he's one of
them.
The Rochester, N.H., native and former Spaulding High School
standout is a Mainer on the recommendation of his coach at
UMass-Lowell, where Davis recently finished a successful freshman
campaign. One of his teammates in Sanford is Ryan Lapointe of
Somersworth, N.H., who completed his sophomore season at George
Washington University several weeks ago and is beginning his second
summer with the Mainers.
"I grew up watching it so I know it's real good baseball, the best
you can find around here," Davis said. "I always thought to myself
I could play at this level and I was always hoping I could get
here. I remember watching the kids and being in awe. When I was
real young I thought every kid that played here was going to play
pro baseball. Then as I got older I could see myself pitching here
in a few years. When I got a call from my coach and he said he got
me on the Mainers, that was like the most exciting thing I've ever
heard."
Davis and Lapointe are part of the pitching staff for Sanford,
which is scheduled to open its seventh New England Collegiate
Baseball League season tonight by hosting the Holyoke Sox at
Goodall Park. Both right-handers are anxious to contribute and
continue their development as college-level pitchers.
"The atmosphere is awesome," said LaPointe, who was third on the
Mainers in innings pitched (41.2) last season. "The competition is
great. The fans are great. It's just a great experience to able to
play every day."
"In talking to his coach recently, he's excited because it's a big
summer for Ryan to make that next big step," said Mainers manager
Joe Brown, who recently returned from coaching Cortland State in
the Division III College World Series. "Hopefully his energy and
his commitment are at their highest and he'll have a great summer.
As far as Davis is concerned, his coach at UMass-Lowell and I are
very good friends ... and he highly recommended him. That's all I
need to know. I don't even have to see him."
After a rough start at UMass-Lowell in which he lost his first
three decisions, Davis finished with a 3-3 record and a 3.54
earned-run average in 10 appearances, including nine starts. He
struck out 54 in 56 innings and pitched complete-game shutouts in
back-to-back starts for the River Hawks, who finished 26-24. With
eight pitchers gone from the previous season, Davis was immediately
plugged into the rotation as a rookie.
The chance to contribute right away was one of the reasons he chose
the Division II school. Now he hopes to prove himself against D-I
competition with the Mainers, who tied for fifth in the Northern
Division last season with a 19-24 record and failed to make the
NECBL playoffs.
Getting his college baptism under fire, Davis quickly realized he
couldn't survive with two pitches as he had in high school. So he
developed a change-up this past season to go along with a two-seam
fastball and a slider. He also wants to add a four-seam fastball to
his repertoire this summer.
"I don't care whether I'm a starter or a reliever," said Davis. "I
just want to pitch here. It's a pretty big deal for me just to be
here with kids from Vanderbilt and Virginia Tech and all these big
schools. I'm from UMass-Lowell, a small Division II school, so I
just want to get out here and play with them and show I can hang
with them."
While Davis is pleased with his progress thus far at UMass-Lowell,
Lapointe's sophomore season at George Washington was disappointing
both from a personal and a team standpoint. Although Lapointe felt
he had improved as a pitcher from his freshman season, the numbers
don't reflect it.
"We had a rough season," Lapointe said. "We just couldn't get it
together as a team. We struggled a little bit."
He was 3-4 with a 7.25 earned-run average in 18 appearances,
including six starts, as the Colonials went 26-29 this past season.
Lapointe went 2-4 last year with the Mainers with a 5.83 ERA in
nine appearances, including eight starts. Lapointe, who plans to
work on his curve ball, isn't sure how he'll be used this summer
nor is Davis, who believes he has the advantage of playing in a
wooden-bat league in college. The NECBL also uses wooden bats.
"I just try to make adjustments and get better every game," Davis
said. "I feel right now I'm the best I've been so I'll just try
feed off that and keep getting better."
"Our goal is not to overwork anybody," Brown said. "I'm very
adamant about taking care of pitchers. These are prize possessions
of their colleges. They're not here to throw a no-hitter in the
summer."
With a shortage of infielders at the outset, because the full squad
has yet to arrive, Lapointe is looking forward to the possibility
of playing some third base. When he wasn't pitching, that's the
position he played at Phillips Exeter Academy and Dover Post 8.
"Summer ball is always to get better and get ready for next
season," said Lapointe, who was 5-3 his freshman year at GW. "You
get a lot of innings, but mainly it's the experience. You play
against good competition from big-time D-I schools."
"I'm trying to gain weight," said Davis, who is listed at 5-foot-11
and 160 pounds. "I'm probably the smallest guy on the team,
probably in the league. I know a lot kids that have played these
leagues and they said it's the best summer they've ever had. I just
can't wait to prove myself."
