The first round of the eight-team single-elimination Junior American Legion Northeast Regional baseball tournament was rained out on Friday and pushed back to Saturday at Mansfield Stadium in Bangor.
The tournament is for players ages 13-17 and all eight teams are guaranteed at least two games.
Maine runnerup Old Town-Orono will open the tourney against New Hampshire champion Berlin Post 36 at 10 a.m. Saturday, immediately followed by the game between the Maine champion Trenton Acadians Post 207 against Massachusetts titleist Swampscott Post 57.
The 4:30 p.m. game will pit Connecticut runnerup West Hartford Post 96 against Rhode Island winner South Kingston Post 39 and the 7:30 p.m. game will send Connecticut champ Waterford Post 161 against the New York titleist Utica Blue Sox.
Sunday’s schedule is up in the air, according to tournament director Scott Bishop, who is trying to secure another field in order to complete the tournament without it spilling into Monday.
The four Saturday winners will play the semifinals on Sunday at Mansfield at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. and that will be followed by the 4:30 p.m. championship game.
The Old Town-Orono/Berlin winner will face the West Hartford/South Kingston winner and the Trenton/Swampscott victor will take on the Waterford/Utica survivor.
The losers in those same Saturday brackets will square off in the consolation round.
The Saturday losers and the Sunday semifinal losers will play at an alternate site, according to Bishop.
There is no Junior Legion World Series so the champion won’t move on.
Bishop said he believes this is the country’s only regional Junior American Legion tournament.
“We feel it’s worth it,” said Bishop. “It’s a great experience for the kids. And, for a lot of them, Mansfield Stadium will be the best field they’ve ever played on.”
Trenton defended its state Junior Legion title this season by going 5-0 in the state tournament at Mansfield Stadium.
The Acadians beat Fairfield PAL 15-0, Capital Area from Augusta 5-0, the Downeast Captains from Cherryfield 17-0, Gray Post 86 10-4 and Old Town-Orono 14-10 in the championship round game.
Coach Shaun Tidwell’s Old Town-Orono Twins had lost their opener 16-4 to Gray Post 86 but bounced back to reach the final and qualify for the regional by beating Hammond Lumber of Oakland 6-5, Capital Area 15-5 and the Downeast Captains 12-5.
Conner Wagstaff, head coach of the Acadians, said his team came alive with the bats during the tournament.
“The boys started to see the ball really well in the tournament and trusted in themselves,” said Wagstaff. “It’s a real close group of young men and they really came together at the end of the season. It was pretty fun to watch the leadership take control and do a great job of pushing everybody forward.”
First baseman-pitcher Dawson Curtis was named the state tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
“He does a great job at both (pitching, first base),” said Wagstaff.
Wagstaff said outfielder-catcher Joey Beal “always gets hot with the bat in the playoffs. He is our Mister October.”
Second baseman-shortstop-pitcher Evan Haskell has been one of the team’s anchors, according to Wagstaff and Porter Merrill has been able to “lock down the outfield” while playing center field or right after initially playing in the infield.
Two other key contributors were catcher-pitcher-shortstop Colin Sullivan and Jackson Berry, who played first, third and pitched.
Curtis, Sullivan and Berry also played for the Trenton Senior American Legion team.
All six had great tournaments, according to Wagstaff.
He is looking forward to the tournament.
“It’s going to be really fun. They haven’t seen any of these teams (except Old Town-Orono) so it’s a fresh start for them,” said Wagstaff. “They can just go out and compete without thinking about any past experiences.”
