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Cheney, Hal (2001)

Writer: Maine Baseball HOF
Maine Baseball HOF
Aug 12, 2019
2 min read

Harold G. Cheney

Harold G. “Hal” Cheney was born July 22, 1914 in the summer when ever-darkening clouds forecast the approaching storm of World War ft.

A native of Easton, Cheney matured in a period when Aroostook County reflected America's passion for baseball. Nearly every town had a semi-pro team. The team and its players symbolized the community s pride and reinforced the resolute individualism of rural Maine.

After graduating from Presque Isle High School in 1933, Cheney attended Ricker College and Presque Isle Normal School. From 1946 until his retirement in 1965 he operated a farm in Presque Isle. He moved to Fort Fairfield in 1969 where he died October 3, 1993.

His friend, Walter M. Reed, Jr., remembers Cheney as "The best baseball pitcher ever developed in Aroostook County. Harold was a very shy and quiet individual. However, his determination and graceful skills combined with a fierce competitive spirit helped him excel in basketball, football and baseball.”

Cheney's potential was honed by Elmer "Spike" Williams, coach of the Presque Isle Junior Legion team. In 1930, Cheney compiled a record of 9-2, both losses coming in extra innings.

Caribou beat him 5-4 in 10 innings for the county championship and Eastport won 9-8 in 11 innings. Most batters had difficulty with Cheney's repertoire. He struck out 114 in 86 innings and was a superior batter, compiling an average of .344.

Cheney was a member of Presque Isle's state championship basketball team in 1932. The same year, he led the Wildcats to the county title. In 1933, he began his semi-pro career with the Presque Isle Indians and a year later was named the team's most valuable player.

Among the highlights of that season, the big right-hander pitched a 15-inning, five-hit win against Fort Fairfield. After the eighth inning, Cheney allowed no hits. He also pitched a four-hitter against Mars Hill, a two-hit shutout against Easton and a three-hitter against Caribou.

In his prime, Cheney was six-foot-two, weighed about 200 pounds and featured an intimidating fastball. Drafted by the Boston Red Sox in 1937, Cheney played in the organization as a relief pitcher until 1943, making stops in Hazelton, Pa, Clarksdale, Miss., Rocky Mount, N.C., Sunbury, Pa.and Hagerstown, Md. He went on to pitch six additional seasons in the Aroostook League, concluding his playing days in 1948.

“In the 1940's when people in “The County" talked about baseball, Hal Cheney's name always came up as the greatest pitcher ever, said Richard “Dick" Cormier (MBHEF-19972).

When he returned from the Boston Red Sox farm system in 1943 he helped organize the Babe Ruth League in Presque Isle and Fort Fairfield.


 
 
 

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Meet the 2026 Maine Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
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Portland Press Herald 4/10/2026
https://www.pressherald.com/2026/04/10/meet-the-2026-maine-baseball-hall-of-fame-inductees/?copylink=true

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Former St. Dominic and current Gray-New Gloucester coach Bob Blackman and Cony coach Don Plourde are among the 11 members of the newest class. Four coaches currently preparing for the upcoming high school baseball season are among the 11 inductees in the 2026 Maine Baseball Hall of Fame class.

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Gray-New Gloucester’s Bob Blackman, Brewer’s Dana Corey, Hampden Academy’s Jon Perry and Cony’s Don Plourde are all part of the class that will be inducted on Oct. 4 at the Holiday Inn by the Bay in Portland. Blackman coached St. Dominic High School to nine state championships in 22 seasons before the school closed at the end of the last school year. He was named the coach at Gray-New Gloucester in September. Corey hit .359 at the University of Maine in 1971. He played two seasons in the Chicago Cubs system and has been the head coach at Brewer for 18 seasons.

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Perry hit .381 at the University of Maine in 1981 and helped the Black Bears reach the College World Series. He has coached for the past 45 seasons at the high school, American Legion and collegiate levels. 

Plourde is in his 17th season as the coach at Cony High School and has been named the KVAC Coach of the Year five times. He has been coaching at various levels for more than 30 years. 

Others earning induction are: 

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• Al Cloutier, who has been involved in baseball in Augusta as a player, Cony High and American Legion coach, Babe Ruth League director and volunteer. 

• John Kolasinski, who was a college coach at for 37 years, first at Husson and later at Siena Heights University in Michigan. He is a five-time New England Coach of the Year winner.

• Mark Littlefield, a Portland High graduate, who is now in his 36th season working on the medical staff of the New York Yankees organization. 

• Scott Littlefield, a Portland High graduate, who will be inducted posthumously. Littlefield coached at Florida State University and the University of Southern Maine before working for 34 years as a Major League Baseball scout, including 16 as a player personnel special assistant for the Texas Rangers.

• J. Ronald Livington, who will be inducted posthumously. Livingston was an All-Star infielder for the semi-pro Presque Isle Indians in the Northern Aroostook League in the 1930 and 1940s. He also coached and was a director in the South Portland National Little League.

• Mike McCullum, of Portland, who hit .338 at the University of Southern Maine and earned ABCA Division III All-American honors in 1999. 

• Jim Taylor of Lewiston, who was a founding member of the Central Maine Board of Approved Baseball Umpires and was instrumental in starting the Maine chapter of the Collegiate Baseball Umpires Association.

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Maine Baseball Hall of Fame day  Delta Dental Park aka Hadlock Field 7/19/2026
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