The Maine Principals’ Association has altered the schedule for Saturday’s high school softball state championship games because of field conditions.
An extra state title game has been added to the schedule at Coffin Field in Brewer after the field at Cony High School in Augusta was deemed not suitable for a championship contest.
It stems from last spring, when vandals drove a car on the field and damaged it. That prevented the MPA from playing the Class A North championship game on it, and the game was moved to Laverdiere Field in Winslow.
MPA assistant executive director Mike Bisson said the rainy spring created an issue with the field so the decision was made to move Wednesday’s Class A North championship game.
Colby College in Waterville agreed to let the MPA use its facility for the Skowhegan-Oxford Hills game.
The Class A state championship game also was supposed to be held at Cony on Saturday. With it unavailable, the MPA let the two schools decide where they wanted to play the state game if they won the regional title.
“We hated to tell the North team that they were going to have to go to Saint Joseph’s for the third year in a row,” Bisson said. “But we wanted to play the game where we already had state games going on.”
He praised officials at Brewer and Saint Joseph’s for their care of the field and providing a stress-free experience.
Oxford Hills had chosen Standish but Skowhegan, which beat Oxford Hills of South Paris 5-1 on Wednesday, opted for Brewer. Skowhegan will play the South winner in a 4 p.m. state game at Coffin Field.
The Class C championship game is scheduled for noon, also in Brewer.
Travel mileage would appear to validate the decisions of both schools. South Paris is 131 miles from Brewer and only 43 from Standish, while Skowhegan is 54 miles from Brewer and 97 from Standish.
Bisson said the Cony issues have opened the door for the MPA to talk to coaches and administrators for feedback about what to do in the future pertaining to choosing sites for regional and state finals.
“We want to come up with a long-term plan,” Bisson said.