Augusta has the record and a veteran club that appears poised to win a State American Legion Tournament championship.

But crazy things have been known to happen at the tourney, which gets under way on Thursday at 10 a.m.

Zone 1 represenatives Old Town-Orono, 19-5, and Brewer, 16-8, will each play at 2 p.m. Zone 1 champ Old Town-Orono will take on Zone 4 runnerup and defending state champ Biddeford, 19-10, at Augusta’s McGuire Field, while the Falcons will face Zone 4 titlist Nova Seafood of Portland, 20-9, at Togus.

In the 10 a.m. openers at the two fields, Zone 2 champ Augusta, 23-1, will face Zone 3 runnerup Cumberland, 19-7, at Togus and Zone 3 king Lewiston, 20-6, will meet Zone 2 runnerup Gardiner, 20-4, at McGuire.

Old Town-Orono pitcher-left fielder Steve Coombs, the Zone 1 Most Valuable Player, said he feels his team has “just as good a chance as anybody down there.

“We’ve got strong hitting and fielding and we have a good attitude about the tournament,” said Coombs, who will pitch the opener. “We aren’t going to take anybody lightly. We’ve got to prove how good we are.”

A young Brewer team will also be confident entering the tourney.

“We beat Old Town-Orono three out of four times this season and there won’t be a team at the tournament as tough as they are,” said Brewer center fielder and leading hitter Mel Grant. “We can beat anybody.”

“There isn’t a dominant team in the tournament,” said Old Town-Orono Coach Dave Paul. “It’ll come down to defense. You can’t afford to give a team any extra outs in an inning, especially at Togus.”

New Auburn Coach Bruce Lucas, who guided his 1990 New Auburn team to the State AL title, said, “I think you’ll see Augusta and Old Town-Orono in the finals.”

University of Maine Coach John Winkin said “I don’t see the potential for many well-pitched games at this year’s tournament.”

He explained that there weren’t many dominant pitchers in the tourney and there are “a lot of pretty good hitters.”

“Augusta probably has the best batting order from one through nine,” said Winkin. “They also have the most experienced team. If they play like they have during the regular season, they will probably make the fewest mistakes. They’ve got the best defensive infield.”

Augusta’s lineup features third baseman Tony Miner (.493, 24 runs batted in), second baseman Brett Hudson (.462) and lead-off man Keith DeSchamp (.403). DeSchamp is a first baseman-outfielder. Lefty Brad Veilleux (5-0, 1.73 earned run average) and righties Shane Benedict (5-0, 2.00) and Will Blanche (4-0, 1.04) anchor the staff.

However, Augusta will have its hands full in the first round with Cumberland pitcher Andy Estabrook (7-0, 1.17) and a lineup that includes 2B-SS Derek Soule (.418, 20 stolen bases), Brian Jolliffe (.411) and 3B Mike Duffy (.577 in 28 at-bats).

“Veilleux and Estabrook are probably the two best pitching prospects and they’ll be going against each other in the first game,” said Winkin.

The other 10 a.m. game pits a Lewiston team featuring catcher Jason Fuller (.471, 3 homers, 20 RBIs), 3B Tobey Federico (.338, 17 RBIs) and pitcher Chad Holland (5-2, 1.65) against a Gardiner team led by pitchers Bert Marsden (7-1) and Jerrime Collins (6-1) and CF Jeremy Porter (.378).

Winkin said Nova Seafood could be “frightening if the stay around after the first two days because they’ve got some good hitters with the potential to pop the ball out of Togus.”

Those hitters would be facing the lower portion of the starting rotation after the first two days.

“And you can’t discount Old Town,” added Winkin. “They’ve got good competitors. Guys like (Matt) Eastman, (Jim) Evans and (Steve) Coombs will bother a lot of people.”