Tough openers for Bangor, Penquis Zone 1 teams to battle Zone 4’s Nova Seafood, Andrews Post today

The Bangor Comrades and Penquis Navigators open play at the state American Legion baseball tournament in Augusta on Wednesday against what in recent history has proven to be the toughest competition this double-elimination event has to offer.

Bangor, the Zone 1 champion, begins its quest for its first state championship since 1979 in a 2 p.m. game at Morton Field against Nova Seafood of Portland, the Zone 4 runner-up and three-time defending state champion.

Zone 1 runner-up Penquis faces another Portland team, Zone 4 champion Andrews Post, in a noon start at the adjacent McGuire Field.

Not since Brewer won back-to-back championships in 1996 and 1997 has a team outside Zone 4 won the state title. Nova Seafood or Andrews Post has won the last six state tournaments, Nova Seafood in 1999, 2001, 2003 and 2003 and Andrews Post in 1998 and 2000.

“Playing Zone 4 right off the bat is a tough draw for us, and it’s a tough draw for Bangor,” said Penquis coach Billy Kane. “But if you’re going to win the tournament you’ve got to go through the best teams.”

The Bangor-Nova Seafood game matches the teams with the best records in tournament.

Bangor (23-3) trailed in each of its three Zone 1 tourney games but scored 41 runs on 45 hits to finish unbeaten, including a 10-5 victory over Brewer on Saturday that clinched a berth in the state tournament.

“The thing I’ve liked about our kids is that they’ve remained competitive,” said Bangor coach Jay Kemble after the Brewer win. “We’ve had a lot of games lately where we’ve been down, but the thing the kids have done is kept their poise and competed. Everyone from one to nine is really doing a good job offensively and moving runners and coming up with big hits.”

Nova Seafood, which consists of players from the two-time defending Class A state championship Deering High of Portland program, is 23-2 after defeating Coastal Athletics of South Portland 12-1 to secure a return to Augusta. Coach Mike D’Andrea’s club was the Zone 4 regular-season champion, but dropped a 4-1 decision to Andrews to fall into the losers’ bracket of the zone tournament.

Penquis (16-10), which consists of players from Central of Corinth, Dexter and Foxcroft Academy of Dover-Foxcroft, have won 12 of its last 16 games overall, including three wins in four zone tournament games.

“We were 3-6 in our first nine games,” said Kane. “Then something clicked. I don’t know if it was getting some guys back and being able to have players on the bench to be able to do a few things here and there, but we started hitting the ball, and hitting the ball, and hitting the ball, and making the plays defensively.

“Everyone started playing well as a team, the pitchers did great, and we came into the tournament on an upswing.”

Andrews Post (20-4), consisting of players from Portland High School, finished second during the regular season in Zone 4. Coach Mike Rutherford’s club then parlayed a 4-1 victory over Nova Seafood last Friday into the zone tournament championship.

Wednesday’s two other first-round games match teams from central Maine’s Zone 2 against western Maine’s Zone 3.

The tournament begins at 10 a.m. when Zone 3 champion Locke Mills (18-5) faces Zone 2 runner-up Monmouth (19-4) at Morton Field. Zone 2 champion Gardiner (18-4) squares off against Zone 3 runner-up Bessey Motors of South Paris (17-6) at 4 p.m. at McGuire Field.

The state tournament continues through Sunday, with the champion advancing to the Northeast Regional in Middletown, Conn. on Aug. 12-16.