One of the winningest coaches in Maine softball history has retired.
Bucksport High School’s Mike Carrier, who has 527 career wins and five state championships in his 34 seasons, stepped down last month after making a comment that offended a player.
“I made a joke and it came out wrong,” Carrier said on Friday.
He met with administrators and said he was advised that it would be beneficial to step down for the rest of the season.
So he did and decided to retire rather than seeking to return to Bucksport next season or look for another job.
Bucksport athletic director Daniel Magas acknowledged that Carrier won’t return this season.
“Richard Rotella and Corey Bires will be coaching the team and they have been doing a great job,” said Magas. Bucksport is 16-1 and the top seed in Class C North and will host Washington Academy of East Machias in the semifinals at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
Carrier, a former football and baseball player at Bucksport, said he didn’t feel the comment was worthy of a suspension but said he respected the administration’s stance as well as the player’s feelings and felt retiring was the right thing to do. A message asking him what he said to the player was not immediately returned.
Carrier, whose teams played in 23 regional championship games in Class B and C, was an assistant coach under Bob Mercer for seven years before taking over as the head coach.
Mercer and Carrier guided Bucksport to state titles in 1984, ‘86 and ‘87.
Carrier guided them to a B state championship in 2006 and C titles in 2012, ‘13, ‘15 and ‘17.
The Bucks reached the state game a year ago but lost to Hall-Dale of Farmingdale 2-1.
Carrier said he thoroughly enjoyed coaching and noted that “I don’t know if there is another softball coach with 527 wins.”
