Mansfield Stadium in Bangor will always be a special place to Marcos Pina and Leonardo Rojas.

Not because construction of the Thirteenth Street baseball facility was funded back in 1991 by renowned horror writer and Bangor resident Stephen King, though that would be enough to make the stadium noteworthy to many a player with such literary tastes.

For Pina and Rojas, the thoughts are more personal – of the Senior League World Series championship they helped win here a year ago for an injury-plagued team from Falcon, Venezuela, and of a second title they hope to secure in the coming week.

“I feel good about what happened last year even though our first, second and third basemen all had injuries,” said Rojas through an interpreter, Tatiana Figueroa, on Friday. “But everyone else pulled together and helped us win.

“We feel confident this year since we were here last year, but this is a different team.”

Pina and Rojas are the only players back from last year’s Paraguana Little League all-star team to compete in the 2007 Senior League World Series, which begins this weekend and continues through Aug. 18.

“Last year was different because the players were stronger, but this year we’ve practiced a lot and we’ve become better step by step,” said returning Venezuelan manager Osmar Reyes.

While most of the players on the reigning championship team are different, there is an overall familiarity about this year’s event.

Three of the five champions crowned since this tournament for players ages 15 and 16 was moved to Bangor in 2002 are back in the field – Falcon, Venezuela, the Latin America qualifier; 2003 winner Hilo, Hawaii, from the U.S. West and U.S. East representative Freehold Township, N.J., which won the 2004 world title and reached the semifinals in 2005.

In fact, half of the 10-team tournament field is making at least its second trip to Bangor, with Canadian champion Whalley Little League of Surrey, British Columbia, and Asia-Pacific winner Saipan Little League of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands both back for the first time since 2004.

“It definitely makes things easier as far as initial contacts,” said tournament director Mike Brooker. “The teams know how we do things, so they don’t have as many questions.”

The returning teams are joined by newcomers Niles, Mich. (U.S. Central); Tyler, Texas (U.S. Southwest); Cartersville, Ga. (U.S. South); Vilnius, Lithuania (Europe-Middle East-Africa); and the host Maine District 3 champion Brewer Senior League All-Stars.

The teams from Venezuela, CNMI and Lithuania all arrived in Bangor on Thursday – the Lithuanians without their luggage and equipment.

Brooker said Air France hoped to locate the luggage for the team at some point Friday. The Lithuanians originally flew from Vilnius to Prague, Czech Republic, on Czech Air, then transferred to Air France for flights to Paris and then Boston.

“You could tell they don’t travel a lot,” said Brooker of the Lithuanian group. “None of them had any carry-on luggage except a couple of kids had camera bags.”

The other teams are slated to arrive in Bangor on Saturday. The Hilo, Hawaii, team is scheduled to land at the Portland International Jetport about 2 a.m., with the last team to arrive expected to be the Tyler, Texas, contingent at 4:24 p.m.

Tournament activities get under way at 4 p.m. Saturday with a skills competition for Maine District 3 players, followed at 5:30 p.m. by a vintage baseball game between teams from Maine and Massachusetts.

Opening ceremonies are set for 7:45 p.m. with the parade of teams into Mansfield Stadium and the ceremonial first pitch by Brewer resident Joe Ferris, the most valuable player of the 1964 College World Series while pitching for the University of Maine.

Saturday’s program will conclude with a fireworks display.

The 23-game tournament begins at noon Sunday when Brewer squares off against the Canadian champions to commence five days of pool play, with four games each day.

The Maine representative has won one game in four of its five previous SLWS appearances and is 3-2 against Canada, including a 3-0 victory in 2006 when Bangor’s Jordan Clarke pitched a no-hitter against Regina, Saskatchewan.

This year’s Surrey, British Columbia, team finished 2-2 in its 2004 SLWS appearance, including a 7-5 victory over Bangor, that year’s Maine District 3 champion.

The top two teams from each of two pools to the semifinals at 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 17, with the championship game to be held at 3 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 18.

The primary change in this year’s tournament will be the live telecast of the final game on ESPNU, with a subsequent re-airing scheduled for 2 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 30, on ESPN2.

Beyond that increased exposure, tournament organizers hope what has worked for them during the first five years the tournament has been held in Bangor will continue to be a winning formula in 2007.

“We think we’ve got a pretty good system established,” said Brooker.