Former Hermon High School and Husson University softball player Deb Colpitts is the new Hampden Academy softball coach.
The Levant native, who was a volunteer assistant coach at Brewer High last season, will be the Broncos’ third head coach in three seasons.
The 30-year-old Colpitts is replacing Jaimee Perry, who resigned after one year in the Broncos dugout.
Perry had taken over for Matt Madore, who left after five seasons due to work commitments.
Colpitts had previously been the JV coach at Bangor’s John Bapst High School and also coached several years at Caravel Middle School in Carmel.
Hampden Academy athletic director Barry Terrill said Colpitts was one of five applicants for the job and she was one of three who wound up interviewing for it.
Perry led the Broncos to a 9-7 regular season record last season before they lost to Skowhegan 4-0 in the quarterfinals.
It was the second consecutive winning season for Hampden Academy.
Madore coached them to a 13-3 campaign in 2022 and that marked the program’s first winning season since 2008.
The Broncos had gone 63-131 during the regular season between 2008 and 2022.
“We are extremely fortunate to get her a few weeks before the season,” said Terrill. “We’re excited.
“She has playing experience and coaching experience and she is a teacher. She’s enthusiastic. I think she will do a great job,” said Terrill.
Colpitts pitched Hermon to a state Class B championship in 2010 and capped her Husson University career by hitting .315 and going 4-1 as a pitcher in her final season in 2015.
She appeared in 99 games during her time at Husson and was a career .366 hitter who was also 6-2 as a pitcher.
She graduated from Husson in 2015 with a degree in secondary education and elementary education.
She is currently a science teacher at Brewer High School.
Colpitts said she was really looking forward to her first varsity head coaching job.
“It’s super exciting. Having grown up in the sport, I’ve always wanted to give back to one of the schools,” said Colpitts. “The girls are all great to work with right now. We have a great atmosphere and I’m excited to see what the season is going to bring us.”
She said she landed the position on a Thursday and their preseason began the following Monday.
“We started off running but we’re making it work,” said Colpitts.”We’re doing a lot at once but we’re getting it together.”
She is still getting to know her players and their talent level and “how they work together.
“I’m just honing in on that,” she said.
She said her team has one pitcher from each of the four grade levels which was a pleasant surprise.
“A lot of the time, you hear about softball teams having one, maybe two pitchers. So when I learned I had one from each grade level, I was really excited to see who they are and I really wanted to get to know them,” she said.
Colpitts and her Broncos will open the season at 1 p.m. on Tuesday when they entertain Mt. Ararat of Topsham.
