BANGOR – The Van Buren Crusaders were disappointed with their 12-2 five-inning loss to Lee Academy in Wednesday afternoon’s Eastern Maine Class D baseball final.

But there was a measure of respect earned from the Cinderella journey that led the Crusaders to Mansfield Stadium and this championship opportunity.

For the second straight year the team fielded just the minimum nine players.

“Any team that gets to the Eastern Maine final has had a fantastic season,” said Lee coach Dave Hainer. “Then you add in the fact that they’ve only got nine players, and it’s just amazing. I know I didn’t have my nine starters every game all year, and for a kid to not get sick or just have a bad day and sleep in and miss school shows a tremendous amount of dedication.”

Last year, Van Buren’s iron nine finished the regular season ranked No. 1 in Eastern D, but were ousted by No. 8 Katahdin of Stacyville in a regional quarterfinal that ended after five innings under the 10-run rule.

This spring, the Crusaders were in danger of missing the playoffs altogether, but won their last four games – highlighted by pointworthy victories against Class C Madawaska and Limestone Community School/Maine School of Science and Mathematics – to earn the No. 7 seed in Eastern D.

“We were sitting there and talking about how we might not make the playoffs,” said 19th-year head coach Brian Hews. “Van Buren baseball must go back 14 or 15 years of making the playoffs every year, so just making it from where we were when we were 3-7 was a big thing.

“But they kept working, and they improved. We stopped making errors, our pitchers stopped walking so many guys and we hit better, so in all facets of the game, we just made huge strides.”

Situated in northernmost Aroostook County, Van Buren had just a couple of outside practices before starting its regular-season schedule, according to pitcher-infielder Trevor Hews, one of three seniors on the roster.

Perhaps that played a role in the team’s slow start, but it was a come-from-behind quality that fueled the team’s strong finish.

The Crusaders rallied from a five-run deficit to defeat Madawaska and a six-run deficit to top Limestone/MSSM in back-to-back games during the late stages of the season.

“It was definitely fun, because we went from a 3-7 team to a 7-7 team and then to Eastern Maines,” said Trevor Hews. “But we were fighting for the playoffs first.”

After ousting No. 10 Fort Fairfield in the preliminary round, Van Buren eliminated the Nos. 2 and 3 teams, Limestone/MSSM and Katahdin of Stacyville, to earn its trip to the finals where Lee finally ended Van Buren’s seven-game winning streak with its talent – and yes, depth.

“The motto for us was, ‘it’s us nine against the world,'” said coach Hews. “Who has a nine-man baseball team these days, and we’ve done it for two years in a row.

“But I wouldn’t trade where I’m standing now for anything. Of course you want to win, but to be here and make it this far … We had a great win over Katahdin the other day, and anything beyond that would have been icing on the cake from my standpoint. These kids did a great job.”

Wrestlers bound for Nebraska

A 15-wrestler contingent from Maine will leave Monday for Nebraska, where they will compete against the Cornhusker State’s best in the 21st Friendship Series.

The weeklong event will feature the Maine team competing in four meets against Nebraska wrestling all-stars in an exchange that is the longest-running of its kind in the nation.

Eleven state champions are featured on the Maine roster, including current 103-pound Class B champion Carlin Dubay of Caribou; 119-pound Class B champion James Spencer of Belfast; 140-pound Class B champion Jacob Berry of Camden Hills of Rockport; and 160-pound Class B champion Travis Spencer of Belfast.

Others on the Maine squad are three-time Class A state champion Allen Stein of Deering of Portland, two-time champion Brendon Bradley of Mountain Valley of Rumford, Ben Cox and Dustin Crocker of Mount Ararat of Topsham, Logan Russell of Morse of Bath, Jake Longley, Jake Badger, Mike McCrillis and Jesse Rayworth of Noble of North Berwick, Keith Sleeper of Gardiner and Doug Williams of Sanford.

Williams will be unable to compete due to a broken ankle, said Maine team leader Shawn Guest, head wrestling coach at Morse High School of Bath.

Gardiner High wrestling coach Matt Hanley will serve as the Maine team’s head coach.

“The experience of going out to Nebraska and seeing what they can see is the big thing,” said Hanley. “The level of wrestling they have out there and the different styles they’ll see will be a great learning experience.”

The Maine contingent will begin Friendship Games competition on Tuesday in a match at the University of Nebraska.