More eastern Mainers tossing bats into Bay 6 baseball teams begin league playoffs Sunday

Rufus Candage saw a void in the local baseball world four years ago – the lack of an adult summer league in eastern Maine.

So in 2002 the Bay League was born.

The wooden-bat league uses a modified American League rules system and includes a large contingent of active college players and others recently graduated from the college scene.

Then there are others merely pursuing their passion for a sport that has helped shape their lives.

Take 41-year-old Mark Farnham, who not only ended a nearly 20-year hiatus from the sport when he began playing in the league three years ago, but for the last two years has served as the Bay League commissioner.

Farnham grew up in Augusta, where he played Little League and on state championship Babe Ruth teams. He went on to play at Cony High School and in the local American Legion program, then competed at Husson College.

He first learned about the Bay League during its inaugural season in 2002 and started playing a year later.

“All of a sudden I’m having the time of my life,” said Farnham, a pitcher-third baseman for Aerus Electrolux, one of six teams that have qualified for this year’s playoffs that begin Sunday at Hermon High School.

“It also spurred me to get back into shape. I went to the gym and dropped 30 pounds because I knew I had to get into better shape if I wanted to compete against 20-year-olds who play year-round through their college systems. I had to get to work to keep up with them.”

While the league had its origin on the Blue Hill peninsula, its geographic reach currently extends from the Belfast area to Blue Hill along the coast, and inland to Greater Bangor, including Orono and Old Town.

This year’s league fielded eight teams, up one from 2004, with two four-team divisions. Each team had 17 regular-season games leading to the playoffs.

Teams played single games on Wednesday evening and doubleheaders on Sunday, a schedule designed to minimize conflicts with job schedules.

Two of the teams were based at Husson, two at Hermon High, two at Searsport High, one in Blue Hill and one in Orono-Old Town.

“This league gives guys who love baseball in eastern Maine an outlet to improve their game during the summer without having to leave the area,” Farnham said.

Division champions UBS Financial (which includes a large Husson College contingent) and Montville (Belfast area) earned first-round byes. Playoff games scheduled for Sunday have the second- and third-place teams in each division squaring off, with Quirk Auto Park facing Aerus Electrolux and Searsport facing MovingMe.com.

Sunday’s survivors meet their respective division champions either Tuesday or Wednesday, with a best-of-three championship series slated for Aug. 13-14. All postseason action will be held at Hermon High, where Farnham serves as varsity baseball coach during the high school season.

“I think the level of competition has picked up a little this year,” said Farnham. “Some of the guys seemed to play harder, and with the playoff setup the way it is now, there’s a little more incentive. From the beginning of the summer everyone’s had the goal of making the playoffs.”