Turf’s up at the 2007 American Legion Zone 1 baseball tournament.

Held in recent years at Mansfield Stadium in Bangor, this year’s event has moved across the city to the Winkin Baseball Complex at Husson College.

“Back when we put the schedule together in March, several coaches and myself were throwing out ideas, and one of the things we talked about was maybe trying it over at Husson,” said Zone 1 commissioner David Paul. “We didn’t know if it could work out, but we approached [Husson athletic director] Gabby [Price] and he was more than happy to have us come over and see what the tournament would be like over there.

“Mansfield Stadium has been unbelievable to the American Legion, but we just thought we’d give it a chance to try over at Husson.”

Paul said he and the Zone 1 coaches also were sympathetic to the time challenges faced by Mansfield Stadium staff as they prepare that facility for the Senior League World Series held in mid-August, particularly now given that this year’s SLWS final game will be televised live on an ESPN channel.

“I think this will free up some time for them to get things ready and they won’t have to worry about another 10 or 11 games played there over a four-day period,” Paul said.”

The six-team, double-elimination Zone 1 tournament begins with three games Friday. Regular-season champion Trenton (18-2) faces No. 6 Penquis (10-10), at 1 p.m., followed at 4 p.m. by No. 2 Bangor (17-3) against No. 5 Presque Isle (12-8) and at 7 p.m. by No. 3 Waldo (15-5) against No. 4 Brewer (12-8).

The top two finishers advance to the state tournament at Saint Joseph’s College in Standish on Aug. 4-8.

Most of the players have experience playing on Husson’s FieldTurf either during the Legion season – Motor City of Bangor played its home games at the Winkin Complex – or during their high school careers.

There are differences between playing on natural grass and FieldTurf, particularly in the outfield where well-struck balls generally don’t slow after bouncing, meaning the fielders have less time to react to balls hit to their left or right.

“The old adage in baseball of letting your lines be another defensive player is really going to come into play this weekend,” said Brewer coach David Morris. “We’re going try to be a little more sensitive to the gaps and give up the lines a little more unless we’re up against a dead pull hitter.

“We’ll probably play a little deeper, too, and let the infielders do more of the work on those shallow balls because any balls that get over your head, you’re going to be in trouble.”

And it’s not all about the speed of the ball in the outfield.

“The other thing we’ve worked on is high fly balls, because the ball tends to hit and bounce pretty high,” said Bangor coach Fred Lower. “When they’re coming in on the ball it can hit and bounce eight to nine feet high and bounce right over their heads, so they’ve got to keep that in mind.”

Infielders will get truer bounces on turf grounders than on natural grass, but they also have to factor in the speed of the ball in making plays.

“As far as infielders go, when we played Motor City I told the guys that the ball’s going to get on you pretty quick, and I was surprised that Motor City had two infield hits where the ball slowed down a little bit,” said Lower. “If it’s hit hard it’s going to get to them quick, if it’s hit off the end of the bat or the handle they’ve really got to charge it because the ball slows down pretty quick.”

One less obvious adjustment players will have to make at Husson will come in their role as baserunner, because the area nearest the bases also is an artificial surface.

“The kids have to start their slide earlier,” said Lower, “because if they start their slide when they normally do, they carry along the top of the turf and end up going up over the bag.”

“In a heated situation when you slide across any of the bases except home plate, a guy might get there clearly ahead of the throw, but then he can come off the base and get tagged out,” added Morris.

Legion baseball

ZONE 1 TOURNAMENT

At Winkin Complex, Bangor

FRIDAY’S GAMES

G1: No. 1 Trenton (18-2) vs. No. 6 Penquis (10-10), 1 p.m.

G2: No. 2 Bangor (17-3) vs. No. 5 Presque Isle (12-8), 4 p.m.

G3: No. 3 Waldo (15-5) vs. No. 4 Brewer (12-8), 7 p.m.

SATURDAY’S GAMES

G4: Loser G1 vs. Loser G2, 1 p.m.

G5: Winner G1 vs. Loser G3, 4 p.m.

G6: Winner G2 vs. Winner G3, 7 p.m.