ORONO – Orono baseball is about as blue collar as it gets.
“Only in the dictionary does the word success come before work,” head coach Don Joseph, the source of that lunch pail mentality, said.
The Red Riots entered the Class C North playoffs at 8-8, but have hit their stride at the right time. With a little extra motivation from their head coach.
“He gets us fired up before games it’s almost like he knows what to say and that really gives us an extra boost,” third baseman and pitcher Connor Robertson said.
Saturday’s Class C state title game will be the Red Riots second in three years. They attribute their success on the field to their coaches ability to treat the diamond like the classroom.
“This is like an AP class you meet six times a week three hours a class and you’re teaching and you’re moving away from leading to letting them take over,” Joseph said.
Senior leaders such as Robertson, Kohle Parker and Jayden Dana have taken over those reins. With their coaches knowledge and trust, they’re one game away from a state title.
“It’d mean a lot winning one more game, high school career. To win a statie, that’d be the best feeling ever,” Parker said.
Orono will play Lisbon Saturday at 2 p.m. at Mansfield Stadium.
