Washburn and Easton Athletic Directors talk about coop team

PRESQUE ISLE, Maine (WAGM) - The Washburn and Easton Cooperative baseball team will play their first game of the season in two weeks. This is the first time in decades that Easton student athletes will play on a varsity baseball team

(Bryan Shaw):” We know they are going to benefit that team and help them out. Easton has not had that spring sport in a long time. It’s really nice we can do this, and I am looking forward to that first game on April 27th.”

Washburn’s rosters numbers have been on the low side for the past few years. Bryan Shaw and Ron Ericson talked about forming a cooperative team over the winter and Administrators from both schools and the School Boards were in favor of forming the squad.

Shaw:” We are super grateful. It’s all for those kids. The kids who want to get out there and play. Having the chance for them to go to Washburn and build that program as a coop. We are very appreciate.”

This year Washburn’s numbers are much better. They will have around 17 players on the team that includes the two players from Easton who will join them. Ron Ericson says that having a larger roster is a good thing because some of the Beaves players also work and some of the athletes are playing both baseball and track and field.

(Ron Ericson:” We do have some kids who are trying to juggle work and baseball. Our coach is working around that. We also have a couple who are doing track and there is a conflict with our baseball schedule and track schedule. That will all come into play.”

Schools all over the state are seeing a decreasing number of student-athletes competing in interscholastic sports.

Shaw:” It’s a challenging time for many athletic departments. Our rec program does a great job of building up the skills and developing the kids. We have had a quality program for another of years.

This will be one of the first cooperative teams that Washburn has been a part of, but Ericson says coop teams build on relationships for both schools.

Ericson:” I have heard good things at the MPA Level. Kids on coop teams from different teams bond pretty well. We have a good relationship with Easton already and something like this makes that even stronger. That is even better than what we had.”

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