Senior League Notebook

BANGOR – Andrew Patterson woke up Sunday at about 7:30 a.m. and just couldn’t fall back asleep.

The Orono-Veazie pitcher knew he had the start for that night’s Senior League World Series game at Mansfield Stadium, and the nerves were just too much.

But Patterson settled down fast – not even the crowd of 1,300 cheering on the host team rattled him – and earned the win in an exciting 5-4 victory over Canada.

Orono-Veazie was glad to get its first game out of the way, and the outcome only made it better.

“It was very big,” Patterson said Monday after stepping off a bus that took Orono-Veazie and the Urbanville, Iowa, team of the Central region on a tour of Bar Harbor. “It just boosts our confidence.”

Patterson needed a little help from Brian Roach and Kevin McAvoy to get the win. Roach reached first with two outs in the seventh when he was hit by a pitch, and McAvoy drove him in with a hit to right-center.

“I turned to my coach and I said, ‘[McAvoy’s] gonna hit it to right center field.’ And he put it right where I said he would,” Patterson said. “The minute he hit it I was thinking, we won the game. It was awesome.”

Moscow coach busy man

Mikail Kornev is not only manager of the Khorvino Little League team from Moscow, Russia, that is representing Europe in the Senior League Baseball World Series here this week, he’s also involved with two other teams that are competing in World Series tournaments.

“I have four teams altogether,” he said. “We don’t have so many coaches in Russia.”

Until this week, the timing had been good for Kornev to see all of his teams advance toward their respective World Series tournaments. The European Junior League final was played July 10, the European Little League final July 23, and the Senior League regional final for Europe was played Aug. 1.

But now it’s a bit more complicated.

Moscow opened play Monday at the Junior League World Series in Taylor, Mich., with a 10-0 victory over Saipan.

Kornev will miss that tournament, but when his Senior League team finishes its run in Bangor, it’s off to manage the Moscow team that opens play in the Little League World Series on Saturday against Mexico.

“I’m a professional coach, I work only baseball,” he said. “After this competition, I go to the Little League World Series in Williamsport. I’ll probably leave here after the last pool game. We have a very strong pool.”

Freak injury sidelines Hilo player

Keenan Yoshimura was one of the leading players for Hilo, Hawaii, a center fielder with great range and an ever-present threat on the basepaths.

But a freak accident during a practice for the U.S. West regional has left Yoshimura with a right elbow injury that has left him as a spectator for this week’s Senior League World Series.

“He was coming in toward the dugout from third base, and we had a batter warming up in the batter’s box,” said Hilo manager Hale Decker. “One of our coaches got [the batter’s] attention, and he turned to look at the coach and then turned and just swung, right as [Keenan] was there. He went to protect his head with his elbow and that’s where he got hit.”

Hilo has had to adjust its defensive alignment and batting order to make up for the loss of Yoshimura, but so far, Decker says, so good.

“He was the fastest guy on the team, my center fielder, and No. 6 guy in the lineup,” Decker said. “But we won the West region without him. It’s a loss, but we’ve got 14 players and they’re all good enough to back him up.”

Offerman eager to be a Patriot

Eugene Offerman, a star from last year’s Curacao team, said academics and the chance to be close to the University of Maine are the reasons he has decided to spend his senior year at Bangor Christian.

“I think that it’s a good school academically and academics are what really matter,” Offerman said after Curacao won its first game 10-0 over Brenham, Texas. “It’s small but you’re not a number, you’re a person. I like that from a school.”

Reggie Plaisir, who works for a sports management company called New England Prospects and said Eugene is Offerman’s cousin, helped Offerman arrange for the move.

Plaisir said NCAA coaches could not contact Offerman until after July 1. Offerman has been scouted, however.

“UMaine is right there and they’re going to have a good chance to see me a lot,” Offerman said. “But I’m hoping that by the time the season starts I’ll already be committed to a college.”

Offerman will be living with Rich and Erin Lowell of Winterport. The Lowells are both teachers in the Bangor Christian school system.

He spent his junior year at a school in Marblehead, Mass.

Offerman is 17, so he’s too old to play in the Senior League group again. He and another former teammate who is now in Maine, Arshwin Asjes, were introduced before Monday afternoon’s game.

Offerman and Asjes, who attended Mount Desert Island High School this year, both played for the Netherlands Antilles in last month’s Pan Am Junior Cup. Plaisir said Asjes intends to stay in Maine for the school year.

Scouting around

Scouts from the Detroit Tigers and New York Mets had prime seats behind home plate for the Curacao-Texas East matchup Monday afternoon.

The scouts seemed to be interested in Curacao pitcher Shairon Martis. His first pitch was a fastball that was called a ball. The scouts clocked Martis at 84 miles per hour.

At least two college coaches made an appearance Sunday. University of Maine skipper Paul Kostacopoulos and Husson College’s John Kolasinski each attended a game.

MAINE 5, CANADA 4

(Sunday Night)

Calgary, Alberta (0-1) Orono-Veazie (1-0)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Toy, cf 4 1 2 0 Otis, 2b 3 0 0

Price, ss 4 0 0 0 Roach, lf 3 1 0

Copot, c 4 1 3 1 McAvoy, 1b 4 2 1

Verrier, p-1b 4 0 1 0 Thomas, c 2 1

Southwood, 1b-3b 4 1 2 0 Keefe, ss 3 1

Sehlstrom, 3b-p 4 1 2 1 Hardy, 3b 1 0

Matsumiya, 2b 3 0 2 0 Umphrey, 3b 2 1

b-Flynn 1 0 0 0 Patterson, p 3 0 0

O’Brien, rf 4 0 2 1 Peasley, rf 1 0 0

Grose, rf 0 0 0 0 Davis, rf 2 0 0

Bahry, lf 0 0 0 0 Phinney, rf 0 0 0

Adamson, lf 2 0 0 1 Tardiff, cf 2 0 0

Stevenson, lf 1 0 0 0 a-Green 0 0 0

Totals 35 4 14 4 Totals 26 5 5 4

a-walked for Tardiff in 6th; b-struck out for Matsumiya in 7th

Calgary, Alberta 011 100 1 ? 4

Orono-Veazie 100 102 1 ? 5

Two outs when winning run scored

E?Verrier, Southwood, Sehlstrom, Matsumiya; Hardy, Patterson; LOB?Prairie 11, Orono-Veazie 5; 2B?Copot, Southwood; Thomas, Umphrey, McAvoy; DP?Matsumiya-Price-Southwood; Tardiff-Otis-McAvoy; SF?Adamson

Calgary, Alberta IP H R ER BB SO

Verrier 6 1/3 4 4 3 3 12

Sehlstrom (L, 0-1) 1/3 1 1 1 0 0

Orono-Veazie IP H R ER BB SO

Patterson (W, 1-0) 7 14 4 3 0 9

HBP?Roach by Sehlstrom; WP?Verrier 3; PB?Thomas; T?2:10; ATT?1,300 (est.)