The Ashland Hornets were scheduled Saturday to play Richmond for the Class D baseball state championship.

Instead, rain forced postponement of the game at Mansfield Stadium in Bangor. Coach Bill Nemer’s ballclub appears to be taking the disappointment of the delay in stride.

Two Ashland starters spent Sunday evening playing in a men’s league soccer game. Four underclassmen were packing their bags in anticipation of Monday morning’s French Club trip to Quebec.

And, since school is out in Ashland, Nemer scheduled Monday’s practice for 5:30 p.m. so three team members could report to their summer jobs.

“We know there are other things the kids want to do and we’ve got to deal with them. The only thing it’s done for me is mess up my golf game,” Nemer said.

Disappointment and frustration were the order of the day as rain washed out eight state finals in Classes A, B, C and D scheduled to be played in Bangor, Brewer and Standish. The contests are scheduled to be made up Tuesday at the same sites, according to MPA Assistant Director Larry LaBrie, who said some of the game times have been pushed back.

“It’s kind of a massive thing to move,” said LaBrie. “If they don’t go on Tuesday, they’ll play on Wednesday.”

LaBrie said the committee, during a Friday conference call, discussed the possibility of waiting until Saturday, but determined the 10-day layoff was too long.

The threat of continued rain showers early in the week may create more problems. The MPA Baseball-Softball Committee must take into consideration the field conditions at each of the sites and the effect of pulling student-athletes out of classes during what for many schools is finals week.

Ron St. Pierre, the groundskeeper at Mansfield Stadium, said Saturday’s Class B baseball game between Camden-Rockport and Gorham could have been played. However, the rain didn’t abate until after the decision to postpone the game had been made by MPA site director Michael Gundel.

Baseball teams from Camden-Rockport and Gorham traveled all the way to Bangor before finding out the games had been called.

“Saturday, from about 11 o’clock when it stopped raining until about 2:30, there was no rain,” St. Pierre said. “With the field covered and the drainage we have, we can dump the tarp and, half an hour later, it’s in perfect condition.”

Camden-Rockport coach Chuck Medrano spoke of his team’s disappointment at not being able to play Saturday, especially after there was a respite from the rain.

“Our kids really thought we were going to play. [The sky] was getting lighter and lighter,” Medrano said. “I think the kids were really up [emotionally]. I thought that we would wait longer.”

St. Pierre said even with the facility’s advanced equipment, continued rain Monday will make it difficult to have the field ready for two games Tuesday.

“It’s going to take a lot of work, which is unfortunate,” said St. Pierre, who explained the crew removed the tarp at Mansfield to avoid damaging the turf. “The field will dry in a couple hours, if we get the right conditions.”

Nemer hopes to have a full squad for Tuesday’s game. While the working players will have to ask employers for the day off, the four French Club students have made plans to leave Canada early Tuesday and catch the bus to Bangor.

The postponements will enable all teams to use their best pitchers Tuesday. Baseball teams in Classes B and D that used their No. 1 starters in Wednesday’s regional finals would not have had their aces available Saturday because of the MPA’s pitching rule.

“That’s the way it should be: our best against their best,” Nemer said.

News of the postponements reached the Searsport softball team as its bus was pulling out of town.

“Saturday, we were ready to play. It’s a bummer. It’s a letdown,” said Vikings coach Amy Dyer-Littlefield, whose five seniors graduated Sunday.

Though Searsport’s senior class headed to New Jersey Sunday on a trip to Six Flags amusement park, softball players Jenn Mace and Jodie Larrabbee opted to remain at home and concentrate on softball.

“That shows me a lot of dedication, that they want it really bad,” Dyer-Littlefield said. Of our five seniors, four of them were in last year’s [state] game. We lost 1-0 to Madison, so they really want revenge.”