The youthful Bangor High School baseball team went just 8-8 during the regular season and wound up seventh in the Class A North Heal Points standings.
But the Rams are a different team in the playoffs.
They went on the road and proceeded to stun second seed Oxford Hills 8-1 in the quarterfinals and No. 6 Mt. Ararat of Topsham 4-2 in the semifinals to earn a berth in Wednesday’s 5 p.m. Class A North final against another surprise team, eighth seed Edward Little High of Auburn.
Bangor, now 10-8, will take a remarkable 23-game regional playoff game-winning streak into Wednesday’s game against the 11-7 Red Eddies.
The game was supposed to be played on Tuesday but all baseball and softball regional finals were pushed back to Wednesday due to weather concerns.
The Rams have not lost a playoff game to a regional opponent since sixth seed Messalonskee of Oakland eliminated No. 3 Bangor 3-2 in the Class A North quarterfinals on June 6, 2013.
They won five consecutive state championships between 2014-18, failed to make the playoffs in 2019 when they went 4-12 and, after the 2020 season was wiped out by the COVID-19 pandemic, they won regional titles in 2021 and 2022 before losing in the state title game to South Portland (3-2) and Thornton Academy of Saco (1-0), respectively.
Bangor and Edward Little met in last year’s regional final with top seed Bangor edging No. 7 EL 1-0. They had met in the semis in 2021 with No. 5 Bangor trimming No. 8 EL 5-3.
Head coach David Morris said one of the reasons behind his team’s postseason success is its mentality.
“We treat every [regular season] game like it’s a big game,” Morris said. “Our kids have done a good job not treating any team differently.”
That means the Rams are already battle-tested before the playoffs.
This was a rebuilding year for the Rams with just four returning players with significant experience. On top of that, for maybe the first time in program history, Bangor has four freshman starters.
Morris — who has been with the program for 14 years, including seven years as the head coach — said the team chemistry has been an important ingredient in their march to the regional final.
“These kids care a great deal about each other and that has enabled them to overcome adversity,” said Morris, whose team lost three straight games in May but has won five of its last six games, as has Edward Little.
“We’ve had great pitching and defensive performances and good at-bats,” Morris said. “And we’ve had great leadership.”
Two of the catalysts have been senior pitcher-outfielders Matt Holmes and Wyatt Stevens.
Holmes pitched a three-hitter with 12 strikeouts against Oxford Hills and is 6-1 with a 1.30 earned run average. He will get the start against EL.
Stevens tossed a four-hitter against Mt. Ararat with seven strikeouts.
Offensively, Holmes is hitting .340 with four doubles, two triples, a homer and 10 RBIs while Stevens is hitting .271 with a team-high 13 RBIs.
Two of the other key offensive contributors are freshmen: center fielder Gavin Glanville-True and second baseman Ethan Sproul. Glanville-True is hitting .326 and rarely strikes out and Sproul is a .280 hitter.
“And both are very solid, defensively,” Morris said.
The other freshman starters are first baseman Kyle Johnson and left fielder Teddy Stephenson.
Juniors Yates Emerson and Jack Earl make up the left side of the infield at shortstop and third base, respectively, and another junior, Jack Schuck, starts behind the plate.
Stevens is the designated hitter and Holmes is the starting right fielder when he isn’t pitching. Junior Geo Socolow is the right fielder when Holmes pitches.
Senior Harrison Tapley is their primary relief pitcher.
Morris said his Rams will be facing a quality opponent in Dave Jordan’s Red Eddies from Edward Little, who rallied to oust top seed Brewer 4-3 behind Campbell Cassidy’s 2 ⅔ innings of scoreless relief and No. 4 Messalonskee of Oakland 6-3 behind Brady Vincent’s 6 ⅔ innings of shutout ball and Eli St. Laurent’s three hits and two runs batted in.
“They have a very good team,” Morris said. “They are well-coached.”
Bangor has won 24 regional championships and 14 state titles dating back to 1971.
In Class B North, it will be defending state champ and third seed Ellsworth (14-4) against 2021 state titlist and top seed Old Town (15-3) at 6:30 p.m. at Mansfield Stadium in Bangor on Wednesday. Class C North will see No. 1 Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln (15-3) squaring off against No. 3 Bucksport (12-6) at 6 p.m. at Mahaney Diamond in Orono and the 3 p.m. game at Mansfield will be the D North regional final pitting No. 2 Bangor Christian (15-1) against the winner of a Monday game between No. 1 Katahdin of Stacyville and No. 5 Madawaska.
Bucksport is the defending state C champ.
In softball, No. 1 Oxford Hills, 17-1, will face No. 3 Skowhegan, 16-2, in the A final at UMaine’s Kessock Field at 7 p.m. Skowhegan has won four of the last six regional titles.
The B final will be played at 3 p.m. at Coffin Field in Brewer between No. 1 Nokomis of Newport, 18-0, and No. 2 Hermon, 15-3. The C final will pit top seed Bucksport (18-0) against No. 2 Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln (18-0) at 3:30 p.m. at UMaine and the D final will be between No. 2 Penobscot Valley of Howland (14-0) and No. 5 Machias (12-3) at Coffin Field at 7 p.m.
Mattanawcook is the defending regional titlist.