Eastern Maine teams trying to make history

Looking for a common thread running through this year’s Eastern Maine baseball champions? Look at their history.

Up until this week, it’s been frustrating.

Mattanawcook Academy’s Lynx of Lincoln won the Class C regional title 10 years after its last one, and they’re the ones who have enjoyed the most recent success among the four Eastern champs.

John Bapst of Bangor ended a 52-year hardball title drought as they won the Class B East crown, Waterville won its first Class A baseball title – ever, according to 17-year coach Dick Whitten – with a 9-3 victory in the regonal final, and Van Buren had never won a title, at least since reclassification, before knocking off Jonesport-Beals for the East Class D championship.

Now all four teams will have a chance to make further groundbreaking history Saturday as they play for their first state title.

Mansfield Stadium in Bangor is the site for the Classes A and C games. Action starts with the C game between 15-4 Mattanawcook and West champ Hall-Dale of Hallowell (19-0) at 11 a.m. The A game between 18-1 Waterville and defending state champ Deering of Portland (18-1) follows at 4 p.m.

The Class B and D games will be hosted by Saint Joseph’s College at Mahaney Field in Standish. The D game between 16-1 Van Buren and 19-0 Monmouth Academy starts things off at 1 p.m. while the B contest between 15-4 John Bapst of Bangor and defending state champ Maranacook of Readfield (18-1) begins at 7 p.m.

Class D – Despite almost wholesale graduation losses right up the middle, the youthful Crusaders have made it to the pinnacle of ultimate baseball success behind starting pitching, starting with ace Phil Smith (8-0, 0.60 ERA, 101 strikeouts in 46? innings).

“I wouldn’t call this the best team, potential-wise I’ve had here, but this is certainly the best pitcher we’ve had since I’ve been here,” said head coach Brian Hews, now in his 14th season. “This team has lived up to its potential the best of any team I’ve had.”

Senior Eric Ayotte has elevated his offense in the postseason, going from a .293 batting average in the regular season to .724 in the playoffs. Smith (.527 overall, 27 RBIs) has also been a key hitter along with Tyler Hews (.481), Zach Cote (.442), and Stacy Ayotte (.702, 30 RBIs), who moved in from the outfield to fill a big hole at catcher.

“He’s been our unsung hero, especially offensively,” said Hews of his junior backstopper.

Class C – Head coach Greg Reed, like most of the other Lynx baseball faithful, fully expected last year to be THE year for his team. His son Zac was one of the top pitchers and hitters in the region and the Lynx had a wealth of talented, experienced players, most of whom were seniors.

But after losing a heartbreaker to George Stevens of Blue Hill in the semis last year, Reed figured he’d have a long wait to get back again.

“No question. We all thought we’d make our big run last year,” said Reed, who is winding up his 22nd season. “When we walked off the field at GSA last year, I don’t think even the most optimistic person among us thought we’d be back here again this year. I mean, we lost seven starters to graduation and had no pitching.”

The pitching problem was solved by way of two early Christmas presents: sophomore pitcher Matt Malone, who transferred from Southern Aroostook High School after his father took a job with the Lincoln school system, and senior Mike Springer, who returned to MA after a year hiatus when his family moved to Bath.

Throw in the contributions of senior John Crocker (4-2, 3.07 ERA) and freshman Steven Whitney, who won two postseason games – one in relief and one with a five-hitter – after accumulating just six innings over the entire regular season, and it’s easy to see what got the Lynx this far.

“Yeah, this has been a surprising season,” said Reed. “It’s like being at Miller’s [OTB] and playing with their money right now. You’ve got to feel pretty good about things as they are.”

Class B – Pitching, defense, aggressive baserunning and timely hitting. Those are the ingredients in John Bapst’s regional championship recipe.

“We only have four or five guys who’ve hit home runs this year, but our team ERA is 1.60 and we’ve scored 130 runs in 19 games while giving up 65, so I can’t find any fault with that,” said first-year head coach and alumnus Mike Miragliuolo.

On top of that, the Crusaders have swiped 96 stolen bases to the opposition’s 12. Senior catcher Brandon Gray has thrown out eight out of 20 runners and the outfield has very good range.

The Crusaders lost six starters from last season, but Miragliuolo says replacing them wasn’t as difficult as people expected. Having been the JV coach the last five years helped Miragliuolo in that regard as he knew there was talent on the way.

“I think we thought we were a good team and we knew we had a lot of good people coming in,” he said. They were unproven at the varsity level but had a bunch of success in JV and below.”

People like sophomore lefthander Cole McElwain, who flirted with a no-hitter in a shutout victory over Orono in the East final. McElwain, who went 7-0 on the JV teams last year, has really come into his own down the stretch, compiling a 5-0 record with a 0.90 ERA with 48 strikeouts in 37 innings.

The rest of the staff includes Zev Myerowitz (4-2, 1.84 ERA), Billy Chapman (3-0, 3.63), James Strout (3-2, 1.14) and Andy Tremble (0.00, 4 saves). Offensive leaders are shortstop Zach Means (.485, 21 RBIs), James Strout (.466, 21 steals), Tyler Jellison (.385), and Bryan Snyder (25-for-27 on steal attempts) – all of whom are juniors.