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Thoits, John (2001)

Writer: Maine Baseball HOF
Maine Baseball HOF
Aug 8, 2019
1 min read

When John Thoits, the side-wheeling right-hander, took the mound, he went with the mindset “I’m the king of the Hill!” It was the other teams job to knock him off it if they could. Seldom, they could. John would be first to congratulate them if they could.

John’s starry career spanned the 1950’s through the 1960's. John pitched and played outfield for four years for Falmouth High and Falmouth Legion. He was chosen to the combined Triple C and Telegram All-Star team in 1955.

In 1955 he joined the U.S. Army where he pitched for the military. He was chosen during that time to represent the Alaska All-Stars. He left the military in 1958. The legendary Charlie Turner of the Yarmouth Townies came Knocking on his door that winter.

John became the prominent Twilight League pitcher of the Late 1950's and early 1960’s. As captain, his team won numerous Twilight League Championships. John pitched two no hitters and several one hitters during this span. In 1963 John pitched the Yarmouth Townies to the Carlton Willey Semi Pro State Invitational Tournament and was presented with the trophy.

Today John Thoits is joining nearly twenty other members of the Maine Baseball Hall of Fame that wore the storied Yarmouth Townies uniform. Long time great umpire and Maine Baseball Hall of Fame member , Ed Ainsworth, calls John “The best right-hander I ever saw in these parts. He owned the inside corner.’


THOITS, JOHN D. - 76. of Gray, at Togus VA Hospice, Nov.14, 2012.


 
 
 

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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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