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Hammond's success continues at Deering

His statistics changed slightly but otherwise the transition for Luke Hammond was a smooth one. And the end result was the same: A state championship. Hammond transferred from Rangeley High School, where he helped the Lakers to a Class D baseball championship last year, to Deering High in Portland where he helped the Rams to a Class A baseball title this year.
“I’m not lying when I say it’s been the best year of my life,” Hammond said following Deering’s 2-1 win over Cony for its third straight Class A title. “It definitely was a big transition and it took a lot out of me.”
In his junior year at Rangeley, Hammond went 7-0 on the mound with a 1.92 earned run average. This year at Deering he went 6-0 with a 2.62 ERA. His numbers at the plate dipped a little, from .391 to .298 but he started for the best team in the state when he didn’t pitch.
“As soon as I came down and played in the summer I realized the key differences and how I needed to improve my game so I did what I could,” he said.
Deering’s gain was Rangeley’s loss as the Lakers had their string of two straight regional titles snapped by Richmond. Hammond proved his worth, though, by playing an integral role on two state title teams.

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After graduating from the University of Maine, Lazarczyk lanquished in the public relations biz for a few years before finally joining the news game in 1999. He worked at the Berlin (N.H.) Reporter for a year before joining the Morning Sentinel and Kennebec Journal in July, 2000. Lazarczyk covers football, basketball and baseball. A native of Rutland, Vt., Lazarczyk over-analyzes the New England Patriots and does a spot-on impersonation of Barney from "The Simpsons."

Scott Martin is the Executive Sports Editor for the Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel. A graduate of Lake Region High School and the University of Maine, Martin has worked at the newspapers for more than 10 years, covering high school sports for the majority of that time.

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Bill Stewart has covered professional, collegiate and scholastic sports for 10 years. A University of Maine graduate, Stewart has worked with the Morning Sentinel and Kennebec Journal for a year. Prior to moving to Maine, Stewart worked for daily newspapers in Massachusetts and Connecticut. Stewart and his wife have one child.

Matt DiFilippo is a sports and news reporter for the Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel. Matt graduated from the University of New Hampshire and has worked for the newspapers since 1998.

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Gary Hawkins has covered sports for the Kennebec Journal for over 30 years. He's the main beat writer for boys and girls soccer, boys basketball, baseball and golf.

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