Intense summer benefits players Gallant, Webb gain experience

BANGOR – If Kyle Gallant and Gordon Webb ever realize their professional baseball dreams, they’ll be armed with firsthand knowledge about the intensity of the schedule.

Since the start of the 2005 baseball season about 3 1/2 months ago, the two teens have each played an estimated 70 to 80 games among their high school, Senior League and American Legion schedules.

“Sometimes you get a little tired when you have a huge stretch of games, like six games in four or five days,” said Gallant, a 15-year-old shortstop from Veazie. “You get sore and tired, but you get over it.”

And they’re not done yet.

Webb and Gallant, who recently helped Bangor advance to the final day of the state American Legion tournament, will lead the city’s host-team entry in the Senior League World Series beginning Sunday at Mansfield Stadium.

“I don’t think I ever got that tired,” said Webb, a 16-year-old catcher from Bangor. “I love the game, and this has been a great opportunity to play a lot of baseball.”

Both were starters on high school teams that reached the Eastern Maine playoffs, Webb as a sophomore catcher for Bangor High and Gallant as a freshman shortstop at John Bapst of Bangor.

Both had to make significant sacrifices to pursue baseball to such an extreme degree this summer, especially given an American Legion regular season in which teams played 22 games in less than a month.

That was particularly true for Gallant, who last year as a 14-year-old not only played baseball but also raced in the Pro Stock division at Speedway 95 in Hermon and other stock car tracks around the state.

This summer there simply hasn’t been enough free time for Gallant to race cars – and while still waiting to get his driver’s license, he often has had to wait after Legion or Senior League practices for a ride home.

“It was really hard for me, because I had to give up something I love to play baseball,” said Gallant, who plans to return to racing when baseball ends and also pick it up again next year. “But it has been worth it.”

As two of the youngest players on their high school and Legion teams, both say they have learned a lot during this crash course in baseball.

And it’s not like they played insignificant positions for the Bangor Legion team, with Gallant keying the infield defense and Webb working behind the plate.

While many coaches call all the pitches during games, Webb said Bangor coaches Dr. John Winkin and Ed Hackett allowed him the flexibility to call the pitches for a veteran staff that included two starters – Josh Young and Keith Nason – already in college and three others – Anthony DeRosa, Brian Hackett and Eric Anderson – who will enter college this fall.

“I learned a lot more about what pitches to call for different pitchers on different counts and in different situations,” said Webb, “and about working the pitchers inside and out, up and down.”

Gallant says he also benefited from both the volume and quality of his baseball experience this summer, particularly at the Legion level.

“I didn’t feel a lot of pressure, it was more just going out and having fun and getting the job done,” he said. “My teammates knew I could play ball and the coaches had confidence in me, so I just went out and played.

“I’ve grown a lot from playing with the older guys. I think I’m a lot smarter about baseball now.”

Now with the Senior League World Series comes the chance for Gallant and Webb to go from Legion youngsters to elder statesmen of sorts, particularly Webb, who played for Bangor last year in the annual event that features players ages 15 and 16 from throughout the United States and Canada as well as Latin America, Asia Pacific and Europe-Middle East-Africa.

“I’ve been told it’s really fun,” said Gallant, who was too young to play last year. “You get to meet a lot of new people who love baseball as much as you do.”

Maine District 3, which includes the Bangor team, has received an automatic berth in the SLWS since 2002 by virtue of hosting the tournament. The local entry is hoping to win at least one game for the third time in those four years, with 2004 the lone exception.

Both Webb and Gallant are optimistic about their chances on the world stage.

“The big thing for us is attitude and pride,” said Webb. “We didn’t have a great attitude last year, and we’ve got to remember that this is a great opportunity for us to play against teams from all over the world. We’ve just got to keep in mind that it’s all fun.”

SLWS NOTEBOOK: Among the teams vying to return to Bangor for this year’s Senior League World Series is the defending champion, Freehold Township, N.J. Freehold Township is 3-0 in the U.S. East regional entering Wednesday’s play, having defeated Gloucester, Mass., Camden, Del., and North Haven Conn., by a combined 37-5. Freehold Township will face Hyde Park, N.Y., on Wednesday in a battle of the final two unbeaten teams in the 10-team event. The winner of that game would need to win just one more game Thursday to clinch a trip to Bangor.