Guilford, Maine

History of Sports
by: Piscataquis Community Middle School 8th Grade Students

Included in the next three pages:
Baseball
Basketball
Soccer

Baseball

Baseball started in Guilford in 1898. The games were played at the Town Field which was owned by the Town of Guilford. Before it was built it was plain woods or a field. In 1965 the field did not have a grandstand anymore; a new backstop was constructed. The town field is located along Water Street. The field also runs along the Piscataquis River. Near the Town Field there is a tennis court, a playground, and a basketball court.

• Text By: Spencer Martell and Paul Martin
• Eight Grade Students at Piscataquis Community Middle School
• Images from the Guilford Historical Society

Dave Gaw was the coach of the PCHS Pirates from 1965-1987. He was born and raised in Boothbay, Maine. He played baseball up through college until he graduated in 1963. He was a first baseman and an outfielder. He coached because of his love of baseball.

During the season they played teams in the Penquis League. Those teams included: Dover-Foxcroft, Milo, Dexter, and Greenville. When the teams played games they played the teams three different times. Coach Gaw liked this because he could know different tactics the coach would use. He would find the coach’s steal signs. When MCI (Maine Central Institute, Pittsfield) came into the league it messed up the scheduling.

At that time the baseball team was aggressively coached. The coach was aggressive because he would have them try and steal as many bases as possible. Even though PCHS never won a state championship, they have won the league championships. It was hard to get into the championship because at that time there were no heal points to help them out.

The games and practices were held at the Guilford Town Field for as long as baseball was active in Guilford. During the seasons adult teams played games against other adult teams. Those teams had no real coach because they all knew about baseball.

During one game PCHS was playing, a big thunderstorm came and it started down-pouring. The teams had nowhere to go. So they ran to the nearest building, which was an old chicken house that was never cleaned out. Luckily they were in there because lightning had struck the backstop.

Dave Gaw coached all of his sons during the time he coached. When his youngest son Allen graduated, he had to stop because of his back. Today, he is still living in Guilford. He is a Yankees fan because of a 25¢ bet. At the end of his twenty three years of coaching, he had coached 428 games, won 309 games and lost 119 games.
(Information by Dave Gaw)