The Orono American Legion baseball team returned to Mahaney Diamond at the University of Maine for the first time in nearly two decades Tuesday night.

And while the result wasn’t what the Twins wanted – an 8-5 loss to Bangor in their 2007 Zone 1 season opener – the opportunity was exciting for players and coaches alike.

“I told myself last year that if I was coaching this summer that I’d like to try to get our games at Mahaney,” said Orono Legion coach David Utterback.

Current Zone 1 commissioner David Paul coached the Twins the last time they played at Mahaney Diamond.But Utterback e-mailed University of Maine coach Steve Trimper last January about revisiting the idea, and the Black Bears’ head man was receptive.

“He was all about us playing up there,” said Utterback.

Eventually the sides reached an agreement on a field rental fee, and the Twins’ schedule was worked in around summer baseball camps held at the university.

Under the current schedule, at least five of Orono’s nine home dates this summer will be played at Mahaney Diamond, with the remainder to be played at Old Town High School.

“Steve’s been fantastic about this,” said Utterback. “It’s the premier facility in the Old Town-Orono area, and he felt like the field should be used.”

State’s Legion ranks swell

Some might see it as competition, or even dilution.

But the expansion of the American Legion baseball ranks this summer really is all about opportunity, and there are plenty of new opportunities around the state.

Seven new teams have been added to the four zones, bringing the number of programs statewide from 48 stretching from Presque Isle to Kittery.

So great has been the increase, particularly in southern Maine, that the state American Legion ranks are expected to grow to five zones next summer, with the current 17-team Zone 4 divided into a pair of zones, one for York County teams and one for Cumberland County teams that include Portland powers Nova Seafood (Deering High School) and Andrews Post (Portland High School), who have combined to win the last 10 state championships.

The current Zone 4 has three new teams this summer, Staples Crossing (Kittery-Eliot), Wells-York and Falmouth. Brunswick and Rumford have joined Zone 3, while Messalonskee of Oakland is new to Zone 2 and Motor City of Bangor increases Zone 1’s membership to 11 teams.