Lightning strikes twice for the Twins

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For the second consecutive year, the Old Town-Orono American Legion baseball team showed a flair for the dramatic.

Last year, the Twins lost their third game in the double-elimination State American Legion Tournament to Nova Seafood of Portland (10-4), but bounced back to win three games, including championship-round 8-2 and 27-10 wins over Nova to claim their first state title since 1978.

History repeated itself last week as again the Twins lost game three to Nova Seafood (12-7) and, again, they regrouped to win three games, including a pair of impressive wins over Nova in the championship round (16-2 and 14-6) at the Mansfield Complex Field in Bangor.

They will begin play in the Northeast Regional in New Bedford, Mass., on Friday.

The Twins not only surprised Nova Seafood this year, they even surprised themselves.

“I never thought we’d win it,” admitted Old Town-Orono third baseman Marc Halsted, who hit .435 in the tourney to earn All-Tournament honors. “Nova Seafood seemed like such a powerhouse. They seemed too strong. I didn’t believe we had won it until the day after.”

“I had my doubts,” said catcher Ron Coombs, who hit .417 to make the all-tourney team for the second straight year.

But, in the back of their minds, the Twins also knew they had battled back a year ago.

“Since we had done it last year, we knew it could be done,” said first baseman Jim Evans.

“We knew what we had to do and we went out and did it,” said pitcher Gary Sibley, whose two tourney wins enabled him to win the Most Valuable Player Award.

“I was surprised by the MVP Award. I thought some other guys had better chances to win it than I did,” said Sibley.

Sibley gave the Twins the jump-start they needed by hurling 8 1/3 innings of brilliant, one-hit baseball in the 16-2 win. Nova went into that game hitting .440 as a team in the tourney and averaging 15.25 runs per game.

“The real key was the way Gary pitched in that first game,” said Twins Coach Dave Paul. “To hold them to two (unearned) runs and one hit was just outstanding. That set the tone.”

“I talked to my dad (also named Gary Sibley) the night before the game and he told me Nova hadn’t seen a lefty in the tournament yet,” said young Gary. “I also knew they swung at any pitches they considered hittable. So I just didn’t throw any fastballs down the middle.”

Meanwhile, the Twins pounded out 16 hits to back Sibley’s performance.

“The way we swung the bats in that first game gave us a lot of confidence,” said All-Tourney center fielder-reliever Brian Wickett, who hit .379, drove in seven runs and picked up a win in the championship game after posting a save earlier in the tournament.

“Once we won that first game, we thought we could win it,” said left fielder-pitcher Mark Thibodeau, who hit .357 and drove in a team-high 12 runs, including eight in the two wins over Nova.

In the title game, Paul made Charles Hite his surprise starter. Tendinitis in the rotator cuff had limited Hite’s innings during the regular season, but in the loss to Nova earlier in the tourney, he had turned in 4 2/3 scoreless innings thanks to a slow, lollypop curve.

“I was very nervous. I couldn’t hold a glass of water because I was shaking so bad,” said Hite, who pitched four scoreless innings before being chased during a five-run fifth inning.

Nevertheless, the gutsy Hite had taken the Twins into the middle innings with a lead (7-5) and Wickett finished up with 4 2/3 innings of sparkling, five-hit, one-run relief.

“Their pitchers were smart,” said Nova All-Tourney shortstop Matt Aceto. “They kept us off balance.”

“Coach Paul did a tremendous job handling the pitching staff,” said Halsted. “He balanced them out perfectly.”

The fact Old Town-Orono answered Nova’s five-run fifth with five runs in their half of the fifth was another big key, according to Paul.

The 22-8 Twins also exhibited their ability to hit in the clutch as nine of their first 12 runs in the championship game came with two outs. And they played errorless ball in the final game.

Just about everybody in the lineup contributed. Second baseman Chris Hashey hit .333 in the tourney and was second in RBIs for the Twins with 10. Shortstop Andy Trice hit .292. Outfielder-reserve catcher Zac Pelleriti went 3-for-7 and right fielder John Wihbey also contributed four hits. Evans struggled but his five hits drove in six runs. On the mound, besides Sibley and Wickett, Nate Ballard and Jason Clifford picked up important wins.

The concensus among the veterans was that this year’s title meant more to them than last year’s.

“It feels a lot better this year because we weren’t expected to win it. We had to battle,” said Thibodeau.

“We don’t have as much talent as we did last year so we really had to earn it this year,” agreed Sibley.

“We worked harder this year,” said Evans. “It’s a great feeling to win it two years in a row.”

Old Town-Orono was the Zone 1 runnerup this year after cruising to the zone crown in 1992.

Evans said the fact Zone 1 was so competitive – five teams finished over .500 – supplied the Twins with a competitive edge entering the tourney.

“Zone 1 is, by far, the best zone in the state,” said Evans.