Senior Spotlight: Meet Lesley Warn
A Senior Year to Remember Might Cap a Career to Remember
Lesley Warn of Deering, who plans to attend Wheaton next year, will be counted on to keep a young team in contention this season as it attempts to contend in Western Class A.Also in High School Sports
Rick Melanson, the softball coach at Noble High, first saw Lesley Warn pitch three years ago as she entered her freshman year at Deering High as the No. 1 pitcher.
The teams have played once a year since and, said Melanson, "We still haven´t scored a run off her. I can hardly wait for her to graduate." Well, that will be this year.
The teams have played once a year since and, said Melanson, "We still haven´t scored a run off her. I can hardly wait for her to graduate." Well, that will be this year.
Warn comes into her senior season as one of the region´s most touted pitchers. Headed for Wheaton College in Norton, Mass., she brings a 38-8 career record into her final spring.
Grunting with every pitch, Warn has 22 career shutouts, 453 strikeouts in 319 innings and an earned-run average under 1.00. She´s also a pretty good hitter in the middle of the lineup, with a .333 average last year.
Grunting with every pitch, Warn has 22 career shutouts, 453 strikeouts in 319 innings and an earned-run average under 1.00. She´s also a pretty good hitter in the middle of the lineup, with a .333 average last year.
Rams Coach Tige Curran, in likely his final season, expects this to be her best year.
"She´s just so much more confident," he said. "She´s bigger, stronger and healthier than she´s ever been.
"She´s just so much more confident," he said. "She´s bigger, stronger and healthier than she´s ever been.
"She´s worked very hard on her conditioning the last two summers and she really looks great. She´s just very strong."
And the Rams will rely heavily on Warn. Coming off a 13-4 season, Deering graduated several key contributors and will field a young lineup. Warn will be needed to keep the score down.
"She knows what´s expected and what she can do," said Curran.
Warn isn´t concerned.
"She knows what´s expected and what she can do," said Curran.
Warn isn´t concerned.
"We´ve got a lot of young girls who are very athletic," she said. "We´ll try to compete the best we can. I think we´ll do well."
Warn started pitching in Little League. Soon she gave up all other sports -- she played soccer and basketball -- and concentrated solely on softball. She jokes that she gave up the others because "soccer and basketball have a lot of running," but the truth is she just loves to pitch.
She works at it year-round, taking only about a month or two off at the end of the summer.
"She´s the hardest-working pitcher/athlete that I´ve worked with," said Lynn Coutts, an assistant softball coach at the University of Maine who has taught one-hour individual lessons to Warn for five years. "Not only does she come in here for her lessons, but she works so hard outside of them. She´s in the training center three more times a week. She works with a personal trainer.
"She´s just a very dedicated athlete, very coachable, very smart. And she loves softball."
Warn has been a first-team All-SMAA pitcher each of her first three seasons. She burst on the scene as a sophomore, going 15-2 as the Rams reached the Western Class A semifinals. That was a tough loss; Warn got only one out and gave up eight runs in a 12-5 loss to Scarborough.
"That was a disaster," she said. "But afterward I learned that it wasn´t just my fault. Softball is a team sport and it´s never just on one person. One thing I learned is to not let games get out of hand that quickly."
Warn has been a first-team All-SMAA pitcher each of her first three seasons. She burst on the scene as a sophomore, going 15-2 as the Rams reached the Western Class A semifinals. That was a tough loss; Warn got only one out and gave up eight runs in a 12-5 loss to Scarborough.
"That was a disaster," she said. "But afterward I learned that it wasn´t just my fault. Softball is a team sport and it´s never just on one person. One thing I learned is to not let games get out of hand that quickly."
At times, said Curran, "You learn from unpleasant situations."
Warn certainly has been steadily improving. Senior teammate Brittany Young, who is moving to shortstop from the outfield to provide leadership there, said the Rams have great confidence in Warn. She remembers facing her in middle school. Now, said Young, "She can do a lot more with the ball. She´s just a lot stronger."
Warn throws a fastball in the high 50s, a riser and a change-up -- all staples of a good high school pitcher. She also can throw a drop pitch, screwball and curve.
Mentally, she said, "I think I´ve become more focused, trying to keep the team together when things might not be going right."
Mentally, she said, "I think I´ve become more focused, trying to keep the team together when things might not be going right."
Curran said her change is noticed. "She´s gone from being a little girl to a very confident young woman," he said.
Warn never considered how far softball could take her, only that she knew it could get her noticed. Coutts said Wheaton, a top-tier Division III program, is a good fit, as does Curran.
"She wants to be a college student and at a D-3 school she can do that," he said. "She can play at a high-level program and still take advantage of all the other cultural opportunities that will be presented to her."
"She wants to be a college student and at a D-3 school she can do that," he said. "She can play at a high-level program and still take advantage of all the other cultural opportunities that will be presented to her."
Warn looked around but in the end chose Wheaton because "the school fit my personality."
Editors Note: Is there someone on your team who you think should be featured on Senior Spotlight, send us the information or furnish a web link.
Source: Portland Press Herald -by Mike Lowe
