Witches get 2nd chance against rival Bangor

Just a few minutes after his shell-shocked Brewer team walked off the field in utter frustration following 5-4 loss to archrival Bangor Tuesday night, coach David Morris had one simple thing to say to his players.

The Witches had just watched the Rams cap a four-run, game-winning rally in the bottom of the seventh with a two-run homer by Rams leadoff hitter Matt Soucie.

But rather than dwell on the heartbreaker, Morris talked about something else.

“That was an emotional game. I said to the kids after that we’d face them again. I didn’t expect it would be this soon, but that’s the way things turned out,” Morris said. “It’s funny how fate has a way of working things out sometimes.”

Fate – in the form of Durwood S. Heal’s mathematical formula for computing playoff positions – has dealt a rematch between the cross-river rivals, who will meet in the Eastern Maine Class A quarterfinals. It will be the fourth meeting this season between the two foes with Bangor holding a 2-1 edge.

The Bangor-Brewer game highlights Thursday’s full day of playoff action as 33 eastern Maine teams face off in quarterfinal round games. Four teams will take part in preliminary playoff games Tuesday.

The 14-2 Rams grabbed the top seeding among Class A teams in the East and will entertain the 9-7 Witches Thursday afternoon at Mansfield Stadium in Bangor.

“I think the fact we got No. 1 was the most surprising,” said Bangor assistant coach Neil Waterman, when asked which was the bigger surprise: Bangor’s seeding or a matchup with Brewer. “We fully expected after leaving practice yesterday that we were probably going to be third.”

Both teams are looking at the rematch as a chance to prove something.

“I think we just kind of want to prove that the last game we played [Brewer] was not our best and we can do better,” Waterman said.

Morris said his team wants to prove it’s a legitimate playoff contender.

“We’ve actually already played a couple of playoff games with games against [No. 4 seed] Old Town and Bangor this week,” Morris said. “Our kids have worked hard to get in and we feel we deserve to be there.

“I’m especially excited for the kids and our seniors. A lot of them haven’t been in a playoff situation in awhile, not just in this sport but others.”

Both coaches agree the matchup is good for the already storied school rivalry.

“It’s good for that and it’s good for the PVC [Penobscot Valley Conference] with three teams involved,” Waterman said. “It looks like it could be one all-Eastern and one all-Central semifinal.”

That’s if 14-2 Old Town can defeat 10-6 Medomak Valley of Waldoboro, one of five Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference teams in the playoff fold.