There are 13 teams in the Eastern Maine Class A softball division.
But when it comes playoff time, it seems as though archrivals Bangor and Brewer simply can’t avoid each other.
Brewer coach Skip Estes noted that Thursday’s Eastern Maine quarterfinal between the pair in Bangor will be the fifth time in his 10 seasons that they will have squared off in the postseason.
Bangor’s come-from-behind 9-5 victory in the quarterfinals last season evened the slate at 2-2.
Bangor is 13-3 and the second seed behind top-seed Messalonskee of Oakland, and Brewer is 9-7 and the seventh seed. The game will start at 4 p.m.
Bangor won both regular season meetings via the 12-run rule, 18-1 on April 25 and 14-1 on May 26.
But Brewer finished the season with two wins, including an impressive 4-1 victory over Messalonskee, while Bangor concluded its campaign with back-to-back home losses to Cony of Augusta (7-5) and Edward Little of Auburn (5-4).
Bangor made eight errors against Cony.
Bangor did play much better Saturday in a 2-1 loss to Messalonskee in the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference title game, according to coach Don Stanhope.
“And we had a solid scrimmage with a very good Old Town team,” Stanhope added.
Stanhope and his staff devised a number of innovative practice drills to try to get his team out of its defensive funk such as stacking three buckets on top of each other in a throwing lane to force the infielders to throw around them and make accurate throws.
They also tossed small foam balls at the infielders when they’re covering first to force them to focus.
“We wanted to create as much pressure on our girls in practice situations,” said Stanhope, who knows giving a playoff opponent extra outs via defensive blunders could spell elimination.
The youthful Witches concluded the season with five wins in their last seven games, and Estes said they are playing with “a little more confidence” especially after the win over Messalonskee.
“Our hitting has improved, and we’ve cleaned up our fielding,” he said. “And in the games we’ve won, our pitching has been right on.”
But the Brewer coach said Bangor’s bats are worrisome.
“We haven’t handled them so far. That’s a major concern,” said Estes. “They’re pretty strong throughout the lineup. You can’t relax against any of their hitters. We’re going to try to attack each hitter differently — decide what their strengths and weaknesses are.”
Stanhope said the regular season games are meaningless and Brewer is a formidable opponent.
Bangor was the higher seed a year ago but had to score seven runs in the fifth and sixth innings to erase a three-run deficit.
Emily Gilmore, Cordelia Stewart, Sarah Bragg, Emily Reilly and Lilli Wiseman have been Bangor’s offensive catalysts, while Brewer has been led by Anna Chute, Emily Lord, Delaney Davis, Sam Pellegrino and Cassy Green.
Skylar Cassum and Reilly have been Bangor’s top two starting pitchers, while Delaney Davis and Ally Chapman have handled the chores for Brewer.
Gilmore, who played her freshman season at Brewer before transferring, hit three homers in the 18-1 win, and Estes had his pitchers pitch very carefully to her in the 14-1 game, walking her twice.