Adam Harkins thought he traded in his baseball coach’s cap this spring for good. He began coaching his son Finn at age 4, by placing the ball on the tee. As Finn grew, his dad accompanied him as a coach into Little League, Cal Ripken, Babe Ruth and middle school ball. But 2021 was going to be different. Finn was a freshman, so dad planned on simply watching him from the stands instead of the dugout.

And it seemed a good time for the older Harkins to stop coaching. Adam is Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens’ director of facilities and projects. The Gardens debuted a new exhibit this May, Guardians of the Seeds, with five giant trolls located throughout the grounds. May is already Harkins’ busiest month, and a new exhibit was only going to make it busier.

But Adam’s and Finn’s plans both changed dramatically this spring. For the second year in a row, Boothbay Region failed to field a high school team. In 2020, the entire Maine spring sport season was cancelled due to the coronavirus. This spring, Boothbay couldn’t field enough players for a varsity Mountain Valley Conference schedule.  So Finn Harkins was about to miss his last middle and first high school seasons.

But he wasn’t sidelined for long. His former Boothbay Region Elementary School coach Smith Climo offered him a chance to serve as his assistant. Finn played on the  middle school team two years ago as the lone seventh grader. The 2019 Wildcats had a team with all first year sixth grade players except for Finn. The young squad won three regular season games and one playoff game, and were eliminated by eventual league champion Great Salt Bay in the semifinal round. 

So with no team to play for this spring, Finn welcomed the chance to coach many of the players who he played with two seasons ago. “Climo came to me about a volunteer position, and I jumped at the chance,” Finn said. “It’s a great group, and if I can’t play, I’d love to coach.” Finn is a constant presence in the first base coaching box. He consistently advised base runners about the situation, number of outs and yells “back” on a pick-off move. “I think the players listen to me. The communication is better because they view me more as a peer. “

But the Wildcats were thrown another “curve ball” even before the season’s first pitch was thrown. BRES was scheduled to play Bristol on May 6. The night before, Climo suffered a serious health scare. He failed a heart stress test and wasn’t able to coach this spring. With no coach, there would be no season. When Harkins visited Climo at Maine Medical Center that night, the coach asked his former assistant for a favor. “Smith told me he failed the stress test miserably. I was working 14 hour days preparing for the new Gardens exhibit, but I told him I would coach. They already lost last season, and I wasn’t going to let them lose this one, too. I’m just a sucker for these kids,” Adam said. 

So Adam and Finn Harkins began their first season as father and son coaches. And what a season it was. The Wildcats dominated the Bus Line’s Southern Division posting a 9-1 record.  It seems the time Adam Harkins spent coaching Finn in the Boothbay Region youth baseball program started to pay dividends for the overall program. Adam Harkins was part of a core group of parents and adults determined to rebuild Boothbay Region Youth Baseball. Harkins along with Bill Mansfield, Christian Kristen, Rob Shaw, John Splaine and Angel Ames all worked diligently at rebuilding the sport locally. Player participation rate levels grew. Boothbay began playing Cal Ripken baseball and joined a Lincoln County Babe Ruth team. In 2019, the BRES roster was dominated with sixth graders. This spring, so many seventh and eighth graders played baseball, no sixth graders were on the team.

This year, Wildcat pitchers threw strikes and hitters hit strikes. The team also demonstrated a knack for on-the-fly problem solving. During a home contest, a hit a Newcastle batter blasted to left-center field reached the basketball courts. With the runner rounding second base, center fielder Aidric Canada tracked the ball down. He fired the ball to right fielder Trey Tibbetts who became an ad-hoc cutoff man. Tibbetts was in center field about 210 feet from home plate. He threw a bullet to catcher Maddox Cusumano who tagged the runner out. “That play tells a lot about how smart these kids are,” Adam Harkins said. “They’ve played a lot of baseball. They are all very coachable, and the future is very bright for them.”

Finn Harkins also sees a bright future when these Wildcats eventually join him on the Seahawks’ diamond. “I was disappointed there was no high school season, but I’m super excited about playing with these guys next year. It’s a great group, and Boothbay should have good teams in the future,” he said. Adam Harkins also believes his son is experiencing a different view of the game which will help his future progress. “As a player you might be thinking two to three plays ahead. As a coach, you are probably thinking six to eight plays ahead. So we talk about different scenarios between innings which has made for some interesting conversations,” Adam said.

Adam and Finn were joined by another family member. Adam’s stepson Harrison Hinckley is the team’s scorekeeper. At dinner, the father and sons all talk baseball. “We talk about what we saw on the diamond and ways we could become a better team,” Adam said. 

While some fathers coach their sons, Adam had the unique opportunity this spring to coach with his son.