Andrews Post on home field for start of state tournament

For seven teams in this year’s American Legion baseball state tournament, playing at Hadlock Field in Portland will be a new experience.

But the home of the minor league Portland Sea Dogs also is the same city-owned field the Portland High School baseball team calls home.

And for Andrews Post of Portland – which draws its roster from Portland High – that familiarity may serve as an added advantage for an undefeated team already favored to win its second straight state Legion title when the double-elimination event begins Saturday.

“We enjoy playing at Augusta and we enjoyed playing in Bangor last year,” said Portland High and Andrews coach Mike Rutherford. “But we’re familiar with Hadlock, we’re very used to the field because we play probably 20 games there a year. Our kids won’t be impressed with it being a pro field, and they’re used to the nooks and crannies and playing the ball off the [left-field] wall.”

The opening-day schedule begins at 10 a.m. when Zone 2 champ Monmouth (20-2) faces Zone 4 runner-up Coastal Athletics of South Portland and Cape Elizabeth (17-7-1).

Bangor, the Zone 1 runner-up at 21-6, meets Zone 3 winner Smith-Tobey of Bath-Brunswick (21-1) at 1 p.m., followed at 4 p.m. by Zone 1 champ Brewer (23-3) against Zone 3 runner-up New Auburn (17-7). Zone 4 champion Andrews (22-0) hosts Zone 2 runner-up Gardiner (19-4) at 7 p.m.

This marks the first time the state tourney has been held at Hadlock as part of the annual rotation of the event among the four zones that comprise Maine American Legion baseball.

“It’s going to be a lot of fun,” said Zone 1 player of the year Kevin McAvoy of Brewer after the Falcons clinched their trip to the states. “Some of the younger guys haven’t experienced [the state tournament], but some of the older guys have. And especially playing at a place like Hadlock, it’s going to be a great experience for everybody including myself. We just have to go down there and play our game.”

Brewer and Bangor should be among the chief challengers to Zone 4’s hold on the state championship – either Andrews or Nova Seafood of Portland has won every year since Brewer won in 1996 and 1997.

The bulk of the Andrews roster is 41-1 this year, including a 19-1 high school record. But it’s that lone loss – to Bangor in the Class A high school state final – that serves as a reminder of the difference between baseball perfection and pain.

“It’s a motivating factor,” said Rutherford.

Andrews features a deep pitching staff anchored by Mr. Baseball finalist Joe Fessenden, lefty Ian Boyle and Ryan Arsenault. The batting lineup includes Fessenden and University of Maine-bound outfielder Joey Martin.

Brewer likewise won its zone title as much with depth as with talent. Coach David Morris’ Falcons boast a .337 team batting average, led by McAvoy (.464), Joe Robicheau (.397), Chris Maguire (.382), Cam Wadleigh (.377) and Ricky Adams (.365).

Brewer relies on four starting pitchers: lefty Jim Nicknair (4-1) and righties Corey Cushing (6-0), Evan Economy (4-1) and Maguire (3-0).

“There’s no question that from a coaching standpoint we want to win a state championship,” said Morris. “We’re not going to be gun-shy about that. Are we the best team? We’ll find out, but that’s our goal and I think that’s been the expectation of this program since it’s been in existence, and they have won it before.

“We’re going down there with the mind-set of whether it takes winning four games in a row or five or whatever it takes, we want to win a state championship.”

Bangor, which went from Zone 2 runner-up to third place in last year’s state tourney, is refreshed after playing four games in two days late in the Zone 1 tournament due to weather-related delays and falling into the losers’ bracket.

“The kids are very excited,” said Comrades coach Fred Lower. “They’ve gotten some rest this week, I’ve given them a couple of days off, and that’s helped everybody.”

Bangor features considerable pitching depth that includes righthanders Ian Edwards (6-1), Anthony DeRosa (5-1), Jim Cox (3-1) and Kyle Leeman.

DeRosa also hit .529 during the zone tournament with five RBIs, five runs scored, three doubles and a triple. Edwards batted .500 with six RBIs, six runs, four doubles and two triples. Other hitting leaders for the Comrades are Scott Hackett, Gordon Webb, Shane Walton and Kyle Vanidestine.

The Comrades also will get a boost from the return this weekend of pitcher-outfielder Alex Gallant, who played in the early rounds of the Zone 1 tournament before leaving to compete in an AAU national basketball tournament at Orlando, Fla., this week.

“We’ve gotten to this point mostly because of our pitching and our defense,” said Lower. “We’ve played good defense behind solid pitching, and we’ve been able to scrape away and score some runs.

“I like our chances.”