Bangor Junior stars set for 2nd chance Team won 5 straight to return

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The Bangor Junior League all-stars have an early wake-up call Friday, but their 4 a.m. departure from the Queen City will feature plenty of anticipation.

The team bus is headed for Michael J. Tighe Park in Freehold Township, N.J., site of the 2007 Junior League Baseball Eastern Regional Championships.

Bangor will be making its second straight appearance in the regional for players ages 13 and 14, beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday against Barrington, R.I.

The Maine District 3 champion dropped a 3-2 decision in its opener last summer to the North Cumberland Little League of Upper Deerfield, N.J., which went on to win the Eastern championship before splitting four games in the 2006 Junior League World Series.

Bangor then ousted Bridgeport, Conn., 5-4, in nine innings before being eliminated by Canton, Mass., 7-5 in its final game.

“We pretty much learned we could compete with everyone,” said pitcher-outfielder Tyler Desjardins, one of four players back from Bangor’s 2006 entry. “I thought they were all going to be just amazing, but we could stick right in there with them.”

Eleven teams will participate in this year’s double-elimination event, with the winner of the Aug. 9 championship game advancing to the Junior League World Series at Taylor, Mich., on Aug. 12-18.

“We’ve just got to play the way we do and we can compete with anybody there,” said pitcher-outfielder Joe Stanevicz. “We’re just as good as they are. I think we can win down there.”

Bangor is 9-1 in postseason play this summer, having gone undefeated through the district tourney before emerging from a wild state tournament that concluded last Saturday in Bucksport.

Bangor lost its opener to South Portland 7-6 after holding a 6-1 lead in the final inning but rebounded with five consecutive wins. The team avenged its loss to South Portland, then later forced a winner-take-all final game by defeating previously undefeated Bucksport 11-10 in nine innings – a game in which Bangor fell behind 10-6 in the top of the eighth but tied the game in the bottom of the inning and won it in the ninth.

“They hit the ball well, it wasn’t errors or anything, but we just came back in the last inning,” said Desjardins.

Bangor capped off its state tournament run with a second straight win over Bucksport, this time 14-4 in six innings – marking the fifth straight game the team scored in double figures.

“[After the loss to South Portland] we felt like now we were all set,” said Stanevicz. “We had our heads in the game, and we knew what we had to do. We just had to knock off one team at a time.”

Desjardins and Stanevicz are Bangor’s top two pitchers and, along with pitcher-first baseman Sam Patterson and catcher-second baseman Jacques Larochelle, are making their second appearance in the regional.

Other team members are infielders Josiah Hartley, Dillon Morris, Curtis Worcester and John Kelly, pitcher-shortstop Jack Stacey, pitcher-second baseman Luke Hetterman, outfielders Phil Frost, Brandon Landry and Christian Corneil, and catcher-outfielder Adam King.

Jim Owens is the manager working with coaches Dennis Libbey and Andy Hartley.

Tournament activities in Freehold Township – home of the 2004 Senior League World Series champions crowned in Bangor – kick off with a banquet for the teams and guests Friday evening, followed by opening ceremonies and the parade of teams at 9 a.m. Saturday.

Bangor then plays in the first game of the tournament against the Rhode Island champions, who are 7-0 in postseason play after sweeping their district and state tournaments.

“It’s quite different now from last year,” said Stanevicz. “We can hit a lot better than we could last year, and we have the fielding and I think we have the experience from last year, so we should be OK.

“Our goal is to work hard. We want to win, that’s a goal, and just play hard and have fun.”

Ferris to throw SLWS first pitch

One of Brewer’s favorite baseball sons, Joe Ferris, will throw out the first pitch for the 2007 Senior League World Series during opening ceremonies scheduled at Mansfield Stadium in Bangor on Aug. 11.

Ferris is a former Brewer High sports standout who was named most valuable player of the 1964 College World Series while pitching for the University of Maine.

Ferris had two wins and a save for the Black Bears, who finished third in their first CWS appearance with a 3-2 record.

Ferris was 9-0 overall that season for Maine and finished his three-year career with the Black Bears with a 16-3 record.

Ferris subsequently was named to the University of Maine Hall of Fame in 1988 and to the Maine Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991.

Ferris currently practices law in Brewer, where he also serves as a city councilor and is a former mayor.

His selection to throw out the ceremonial first pitch comes in conjunction with Brewer’s first appearance in the Senior League World Series as champion of the host district, Maine District 3.

SLWS activities get under way on Aug. 11 with a 4 p.m. skills competition for District 3 players followed by a vintage baseball game, the parade of champions and a fireworks display.

Five days of SLWS pool play begin at noon, Aug. 12, when Brewer faces the Canadian champion.