For the first time, the Zone I American Legion Most Valuable Player and Coach of the Year have the same name: Ken Reed.

They were chosen in a vote of the zone’s coaches on Tuesday night in Orono.

First-year coach Ken Reed II guided the Log Drivers to a 25-3 record and the Zone 1 regular season championship and his son, catcher Ken Reed III, sparked the team by hitting .438 with 1 homer, 23 runs batted in, 4 doubles, 1 triple, and 33 runs scored.

“I don’t know what to say. I can’t believe it,” said the younger Reed, who was also chosen as the first team receiver. “I never thought about this. I was just hoping to make the all-star team.”

“He was their catalyst,” said Brewer Coach Dave Gonyar. “He was a solid team leader and a tough kid. He didn’t try to do more than he was capable of. He didn’t hit many homers. He just tried to drive the ball through the infield.”

“They could always count on him to come up with the big hit,” said Old Town-Orono Coach Dave Paul. “They rallied around him.”

Paul also said, “You couldn’t steal on him. He doesn’t have an outstanding arm, but he has a quick release and always seems to put the ball on the money. He’s a very good all-around player.”

Young Reed, a 5-foot-10, 170-pounder who will be a senior at Skowhegan High School in the fall, credited his teammates with making the honor possible.

“The whole team played real well. There’s a lot of talent on this team and that helped me a lot,” said Reed, who hit third in the order right before All-Zone 1 first team outfielder Jerrod Thebarge. (.405, 6 homers, 33 RBIs). “Before the other teams knew about Jerrod, I might get an intentional walk from time to time. But when Jerrod started hitting real well, they couldn’t do that any more because I would be one more guy on base for Jerrod to drive in.”

Coach Reed downplayed his honor, saying, “Good players and good assistant coaches (Colin Quinn, Larry Savage, and team manager Don Finley) make good coaches.”

“Everything fell into place. A lot of good players came together as a team and, stat-wise, played way over their potentials,” said the 47-year-old Reed. “We just rode the wave.”

“Ken did a super job coaching them,” said Gonyar, whose Falcons finished second. “They were always enthusiastic and he had them ready to play every game.”

The Reeds were joined on the first team by fellow Log Drivers second baseman Doug Lacroix (.438, 26 RBIs, 22 runs scored), Thebarge, (.405, 6 homers, 33 RBIs, 4 doubles, 2 triples, 21 runs) and righthander Mark Hreben (5-0, 2 saves, 2.35 earned run average, (55 strikeouts in 44 2/3 innings). Brewer, the Acadians from Trenton-Ellsworth, and Bangor had two players apiece on the first team while Calais and Old Town-Orono had one each.

Brewer’s first-team choices were leadoff man outfielder Darren Dyer (35 runs, 26 stolen bases) and No. 2 hitter shortstop Mel Grant (21 steals) while the Acadian choices were first baseman David Gray (.379, 4 homers, 20 RBIs, 7 doubles) and third baseman Jim Beers. (.355, 14 RBIs, 18 runs).

Bangor placed pitcher-second baseman Mark Reed (38 strikeouts in 35 innings) and pitcher Ryan Soucie (64 strikeouts in 62 innings) on the team.

Rounding out the first team were Calais outfielder Travis Oakes (20 runs) and Old Town-Orono pitcher Mitch Stone (46 strikeouts in 44 innings).

There were no repeat first-team selections, but Reed, Beers and Soucie were second teamers a year ago.

All-Zone 1 American Legion Team First Team

MVP Ken Reed III, Skowhegan Coach Ken Reed II, Skowhegan C Ken Reed III, Skowhegan .438, 1 HR, 23 RBIs 1B David Gray, Acadians .379-4-20 2B Doug Lacroix, Skowhegan .438-1-26 SS Mel Grant, Brewer .444-3-25 3B Jim Beers, Acadians .355-0-14 OF Darren Dyer, Brewer .438-1-5 OF Jerrod Thebarge, Skow. .405-6-33 OF Travis Oakes, Calais .382-6-24 Utility Mark Reed, Bangor .277-2-17;

3-2, 2.40 ERA P Mark Hreben, Skowhegan

5-0, 2 saves, 2.35 ERA P Ryan Soucie, Bangor 2-6, 2 saves, 3.50 P Mitch Stone, OT-Orono 5-1, 1.75

Second Team

C Kevin McIntyre, Bangor .377-0-15 1B Chris Sherrard, Calais .359-3-12 2B Eric Lanks, Acadians .326-0-12 SS Matt Eastman, OT-Orono .338-1-15 3B Jim Evans, Old Town-Orono .423-0-19 OF Steve Coombs, OT-Orono .351-1-11 OF Mario DeIeso, Penquis .412-1-11 OF Mark Leighton, Acadians .351-2-6 Utility Jamie White, Brewer .301-1-19 P Travis McKenney, Penquis 6-4, 1 save, 3.86 P Rob Shea, Acadians 3-2, 2 saves, 2.80 P Chad Gilley, Skowhegan 6-0, 3.38

Honorable Mentions – Acadians: Brian Willey, Mike Clark; Brewer: Aaron Chambers, Al Perkins; Penquis: Ryan Dearborn, Toby Pineo; Old Town-Orono: David Theriault, Aaron Knowles; Bangor, Rob Spreng, Pat Masters; Calais: Bud Sprowl, Matt Cassidy; Skowhegan: Garrett Quinn, Mark Bulmer.