It turns out the Bronx Junior Little League team that defeated Bangor in the Eastern Regionals at Marlboro, N.J. was the team that Danny Almonte should have been playing for.

You remember Almonte. The pitcher who turned out to be too old to be true for the Rolando Paulino Bronx All-Stars at the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa.

A 14-year old in sheep’s clothing, Almonte threw pitches that the 11 and 12-year-olds in Williamsport could only dream of. The team he should have been playing for was pretty good too.

“They didn’t need him,” Dennis Libbey said.

Libbey coached the Bangor Junior Little League team in the regional. He said the older version of the Bronx team had enough pitching.

“They went about six or seven pitchers deep. They were all from the Dominican. The players and the coaches.”

Libbey said the Bangor contingent had good relations with the kids from the Bronx team. They interacted well together and made friends.

“They were good kids. Their parents were fantastic. They were heads and shoulders above the other teams there.”

Libbey said one of the ironic things about the kids from the Bronx was that they weren’t Yankees fans.

“They don’t have a favorite team. They have a favorite player – Manny Ramirez,” Libbey said.

Ramirez is from the same area of the Dominican Republic as the kids and Libbey said that the Red Sox outfielder contributes money to the Rolando Paulino Little League.

Skating away …

The public campaign to raise money for the construction of an ice skating arena in Ellsworth is still six months away but Nancy Graham believes the arena is well on its way to becoming a reality.

Graham is the president of the Acadia Skating Association, which is leading the drive behind the $5.35 million project.

“We are in the quiet phase to raise what they call major donations,” Graham said.

Although Graham declined to say how much money had been raised to date, she said more than 140 individual donations have been made with a matching grant of $30,000 having been made by an anonymous donor.

“In addition to cash donations we’ve received at least 30 [service] donations,” Graham said.

The 42,000 square-foot project is to be built on a 13-acre site on Bar Harbor Road near the Ellsworth Wal-Mart. Graham, who won a bronze medal in figure skating at the 1960 Olympics in Squaw Valley, Calif., said no completion date has been placed on the arena.

Maine golfers tops in Tri-State

A team of Maine amateur golfers wrestled the coveted Rust Tri-State Trophy away from teams from New Hampshire and Vermont last weekend at Dunegrass Golf Club in Old Orchard Beach.

The Maine team defeated New Hampshire and Vermont 26-23-14 in the 63rd version of the event that is played in a Ryder Cup-style points format.

Ron Brown Jr. of Cumberland Foreside was playing in the match for the 27th straight year.

“It’s a great event. They kinda get the top amateur players from three states and we go at it for two days,” Brown said.

An alternate-ball format was used for the first day of the tourney while head-to-head play was reserved for the second day.

“It was very intense,” Brown said. The guy [Mark Plummer] played, his name is Craig Stekowych, was runner up at the New Hampshire Amateur. He won the New England Amateur and played in the U.S. Amateur. He’s a good player and no one wants to lose.”

Lowell Watson, Ralph Noel, Andy Carbone and Romeo Laberge made up the senior portion of the Maine squad. Scott Dewitt, Keith Patterson, Tom Bean, Nate Nealey, Jeff Wass, Rick Jones, Ray Hawley and Erik Clark rounded out the team.

Don Perryman’s Local Spotlight column is published each Wednesday. He can be reached at 990-8045 or by e-mail at dperryman@bangordailynews.net