Bangor all-stars hope they can stay sharp

BANGOR – Jim Cox recalls watching the Senior League Baseball World Series the last two years from the Mansfield Stadium stands.

“I remember that the players were kids just like us,” said Cox, a 16-year-old pitcher who will be a junior at Bangor High School this fall. “I thought they would be superhuman, but they weren’t.”

The World Series returns to Bangor for the third year beginning Sunday, and Cox and the rest of the 2004 Bangor Senior League All-Stars will get their chance to test themselves against the best 15- and 16-year-old players from across the United States and beyond.

But while many teams are still competing in regional tournaments this week to qualify for the World Series, the Bangor Senior League All-Stars will enter its Pool A opener against the Canadian champion at 8 p.m. Sunday not having played a game in nearly a month.

Bangor earned the World Series berth that goes to the host team on July 19, then took 11/2 weeks off before resuming practices during the last two weeks.

“It’s pretty tough, because you know that other teams are playing games almost every day to try to get here, and all we can do is practice,” said second baseman Ryan Jones.

Despite the lack of recent game competition, there are elements of familiarity that may serve as equalizers of sorts.

For one, all but one of the 14- Bangor all-stars were teammates on the Bangor High junior varsity last spring.

“These guys have been together since March, so all together they’ve probably played 60 games,” said Bangor coach Dave Utterback, who runs the team with manager Barrett Dionne. “The chemistry is already there.”

Utterback also brings some unique experience to the team. Not only did he coach with the Bangor junior varsity during the spring, he also was the manager of the Bangor Senior League All-Star team that participated – and won a game – in the 2002 World Series, the first hosted by Bangor.

“He’s told us what to expect, that the kids on the other teams are the same age we are, and that we can compete against them,” said Jones.

The Bangor all-stars were selected from the four Senior League teams in the city that compete in a 14-game regular-season schedule, Utterback said. Bangor then bested Old Town-Orono-Veazie and Hampden-Hermon in the three-team District 3 tournament to qualify as the host team for the World Series.

The team, which includes nine 16-year-olds and five 15-year-olds, now will go head-to-head against the best teams from Latin America, Asia-Pacific, EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa), and Canada, as well as U.S. representatives from the East, South, Central, Southwest, and West.

“It’s awesome, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said Jones.

Half of the 10-team field is set. In addition to the Bangor squad, Latin America (Maracaibo, Venezuela), EMEA (Rotterdam, Netherlands), Asia-Pacific (Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands) and the U.S. Southwest (San Antonio, Texas) already have crowned champions.

The Greater Helotes National Little League of San Antonio earned its berth Tuesday with a 15-5 victory over Deming, New Mexico, in the U.S. Southwest championship game at Brenham, Texas.

Four more U.S. representatives and the Canadian champion are scheduled to be determined today and Thursday.

Bangor will enter the tournament as an underdog, but that status doesn’t diminish the team’s aspirations, which include advancing beyond pool play. That would require at least three victories.

“We’re fairly confident that we can win our first three games,” said Utterback. “That’s the only way we can go into it. We can’t go in thinking the other teams are better than us or we’ve lost right from the get-go.”

Cox is scheduled to get the opening-night start against the Canadian champion. While he hasn’t pitched in an actual game in a month, the right-hander has pitched in scrimmages and was scheduled to throw 100 pitches in a simulated game Tuesday.

“I’ve been preparing for a while,” said Cox. “I’m pretty confident, because the defense plays real well behind me, and the team hits well when I’m pitching. I know I wouldn’t want to have to pitch against them.”

The local representatives also are looking forward to playing under the lights. All of Bangor’s Pool A contests are scheduled for 8 p.m., with games against Canada, the U.S. South on Tuesday, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands on Wednesday, and the U.S. West on Thursday.

“We’ve never played in front of crowds like this, and we’ve never played at 8 at night. It’s a little later than we’re used to,” said Cox. “But when we see the big crowd, it’s just going to get us pumped up, and we’ll definitely want to win even more.”