Beacons Hot stove heating up!

It may be November and the holidays may be just around the corner, but the Beacons front office has been very busy lining up potential players for the 2008 season.
Former Isotopes third baseman Mark Dearborn is rumored to the Beacons' first major off-season acquisition. Dearborn and Dearborn's agent, Scott Moras, have been negotiating a two-year deal with the Beacons brain trust and may be close to an agreement.
Dearborn would provide some stability at the hot corner, a solid bat and veteran leadership.
Other potential players that may walk through that door include former Isotopes players Darryl Cauchon and Chis Sciaky, who may be interested in playing for a team where they would have more significant playing time. Cauchon and Sciaky were left off the Topes 2007 roster during the off-season, but have maintained vigorous work0ut programs and are eager to play.
Former Isotopes player and coach Dan Paul may also be coaxed out of retirement to help the Beacons manage the team in its inaugural season. Former Topes standout shortstop Jon Blain may also be asked to join the new franchise.
"We still have a long way to go," Cook said at the team's front office in South Berwick, Maine. "But we're off to a good start. Interest in our new team and the league is high and in the months ahead we will be more aggressive."
Cook said part of the Beacons's strategy to recruit new players will include mass e-mails to the team's growing network of potential male and female players, classified ads in several carefully selected newspapers, as well as flyers posted in various health clubs and gyms.
"Ultimately, we just want to put together a team that will enjoy playing softball and support one another, win or lose," Cook said.

Beacons Coach Bob Cook to new players: "Everyone is welcome"

We all shine on, like the moon, stars and now the Beacons

ROLLINSFORD -- The Beacons will have what it takes to make it in the Dover Adult Co-Ed League in 2008 because they have the right attitude, the right name and their timing is impeccable.
Several leading sports writers and commentators are already giving this new co-ed softball team a big thumbs up after the team's owners announced that Bob Cook was hired as the franchise's new head coach and Matt Duprey was hired as assistant coach.
"There collective experience in developing young talent and their core values to reward hard work and dedication will produce a good team in its first year," wrote Dave Madigan of the Softball Times Magazine in Orlando, Fla.
Closer to home, Boston Globe sports writers Tad O'Gradiosey and Bruce Myron also see the Beacons as a good bet in '08.
"I think if Cook and Duprey have a good enough draft and land some seasoned players and some decent rookies, this team could win more games than it loses," O'Grandiosey wrote in his column.
Myron predicts the Beacons will become the hottest story of next year's softball season and believes the ownership team should be commended for landing two strong coaches.
"When I heard they hired Cook and Duprey, I knew right away that if I'm a Beacons fan I would be rewarded. These guys won't be in the same class as Major League Baseball's Tampa Bay Devil Rays or Washington Nationals," Myron noted.
ESPN baseball broadcaster Joe Morgan is also looking forward to doing color commentary when the Beacons play on Sunday Night Softball next spring.
"This team should have what it takes to play good softball," Morgan said.
With such glowing endorsements, the Beacons should have some confidence as they go forward and build their new team. Hooking up with the respectable Dover Adult Co-Ed League will also prove advantageous for the Beacons and the league, which will now have 10 teams competing in a 24-game schedule.
May can't come soon enough for Beacons fans.

Cook, Duprey to lead new softball franchise

ROLLINSFORD -- The Beacons may not even officially exist yet, but they already have a new head coach and assistant coach to lead them in 2008.
Robert Cook, a six-year co-ed softball league veteran skipper, and Matt Duprey, an up and coming softball leader, signed one-year contracts Tuesday to lead the new team. Now they just have to accomplish a few housekeeping items like line up a new corporate sponsor, obtain new uniforms and recruit 12- to 14 men and women over the next six months.
The Beacons took their name from the Maine coast's lighthouses that guide ships safely into port by shining a constant light that helps vessels avoid the rocky coast.
"We want this team to embody certain values that begin with respect for one another no matter what happens on the field. We will do our best to field a competitive team and win games, but first and foremost, this team will stand for inclusion, not exclusion. All men and women who simply want to enjoy playing softball regardless of their ability will be welcome," Cook said.
"People play this game so they can steal a few enjoyable hours inbetween work and their families and relive their youth when they played Little League baseball or softball," Cook said. "We want our players to look forward to our games and enjoy spending time with people who share the same values and approach to the game."
Cook and Duprey are already brimming with confidence they will accomplish all of those goals and more by the time the new team opens spring training in April.
"I've done this before," said an elated Cook. "I also enjoy building a new team with new people who love playing this game as much as I do."
Cook co-founded The Isotopes co-ed softball team in the spring of 2002 in The Works League and coached the team for six seasons. The 2006 Isotopes made it all the way to the league championship game with a mixture of rookies and seasoned veterans and Cook still views that as his greatest accomplishment even though the team did not win the title.
"Our team that year was extremely successful on and off the field and it was a joy for me to coach and play with those people," Cook reflected. "The thing that I will always treasure about that team is not our record or the fact that we nearly won it all, but the incredible comraderie and team harmony that we enjoyed that entire season. I will do all that I can to give the Beacons that same mindset. We want to win games, sure, but more importantly, we want to have a good time."
Duprey said he is excited to be reunited with his former softball coach and teammate.
"Bob is a great guy who really cares about the game and really tries to help people improve their game. He has always been a great listener and a good teacher and he is always willing to work with anybody to help them get better. He tells everybody to treat each other the way they want to be treated and respect their teammates no matter what," Duprey said.
Cook said he was also pleased that Duprey agreed to help him coach the Beacons on the team's maiden voyage in 2008.
"I couldn't ask for a better assistant coach to help me run this team. Matt has always been a stand-up guy who shares the same softball philosophy as I do and we trust each other," Cook said.
The Beacons will play a 24-game schedule along with a tournament at the beginning of the season on Mother's Day Weekend and a one-pitch tournament at the end of the season in September that follows the Dover Adult Co-Ed League's annual Playoff Tournament.
The Beacons will play at Legion Field which overlooks the Salmon Falls River and is a USSA field that features distances of 300-feet to left, center and right field.

New team, new league, new vision... Beacons softball is born!

ROLLINSFORD -- The Beacons will become the 10th team to compete in the Dover Adult Co-Ed Softball League in the 2008 season after league officials and the franchise's leadership team came to terms on Saturday, Sept. 8.
More details will be available soon.