BANGOR, Maine — The Bangor Junior League baseball team will enter familiar territory this weekend.
For the fifth time in the last nine years, the team will represent Maine in the Eastern Regional tournament of the Junior League World Series.
Manager Jimmy Owens, coaches Dennis Libbey and Jim Landry and 14 players ages 13-14 will head to Freehold Township, N.J., where they will begin play in this year’s 10-team, double-elimination tournament with a 7 p.m. game Saturday against Thurmont, Md., at Michael J. Tighe Park.
That’s a refreshing change from two of the last three years, when Bangor’s opener was against New Jersey, which won the regional in 2006 and finished second last summer.
“New Jersey’s always one of the toughest teams, so it’s good not to have to play them right off the bat,” said Owens, who along with Libbey has guided Bangor through its last five regional appearances.
In its previous four Eastern tournaments this decade, Bangor is 3-8, including victories in its first two games of 2001.
But while Bangor has not won a game since defeating Bridgeport, Conn., in 2006, the Maine District 3 and state champion has not lacked for competitiveness.
Four of its last six losses have been by one or two runs, and last year Bangor fell 5-0 to Wall Township, N.J., and 9-8 to Johnston, R.I.
“All games except two we’ve been tied or ahead in the fifth inning,” said Owens.
And the fine line between victory and defeat? Typically it’s been defense.
“We’ve just got to catch the ball,” said Owens. “If we can limit them to three outs an inning, well do all right because we have good pitching, but we can’t give teams four or five outs in an inning.”
Just three players are back from last year’s team, pitcher-shortstop Bobby Winchell, first baseman Anthony Capuano and pitcher-second baseman Carl Farnham.
All three are leaders on this year’s team, which also includes pitcher-outfielder Tyler LaPlante, infielder Matt Cosgrove, outfielder Mark Paulette, center fielder Collin Kimsey, pitcher-left fielder Bryan Rouleau, pitcher-third baseman Gregg Duff, catchers Hunter Boyce and Rye Powell, pitcher-infielder Brendan Moore, out-fielder Josh Landry, and infielder-outfielder Jordan Treadwell (injured).
Duff, Rouleau and Winchell anchor a pitching staff that allowed four or fewer runs in four of its five state tournament games.
But after going undefeated in four games to win the District 3 crown, Bangor had to regroup after losing its first game at the state tournament for the second time in three years to earn its berth in the Eastern regional.
This year Waldo County scored a run in the bottom of the seventh inning to edge Bangor 4-3 in a tournament opener played at Mansfield Stadium.
But the team rebounded to defeat Scarborough 6-3 and Acadian of Mount Desert Island 2-1 to advance to the championship round against an undefeated Waldo County team.
Bangor then erupted for 29 runs in two games to power its way to the state title. In its first game against Waldo County, Bangor scored 11 runs in its final two at-bats to erase an 8-4 deficit en route to a 15-9 win.
In the final game, Duff doubled twice, including a two-run two-bagger to highlight a four-run third-inning uprising that gave Bangor the lead for good en route to a 14-4 victory. Winchell added three singles, a double and 2 RBIs, while Capuano had two singles, a double and two RBIs and Rouleau doubled and singled with three RBIs and pitched a five-hitter.
