OLD TOWN, Maine — Whether it was officials from the local Expera Specialty Solutions mill dropping by a midweek practice or workout mates making small talk at the YMCA, residents of the Canoe City are sharing in the anticipation as 12 of their youngsters prepare to pursue a world championship next week.
“I think they’re really proud of us,” said Austin Sheehan, who plays first base for Old Town’s first-time entry as the Maine District 3 host team in the Senior League World Series, which begins its 14th year of play on Sunday at Bangor’s Mansfield Stadium.
“No team from Old Town has done this before, so everybody’s excited for us. I think that’s pretty cool,” he added.
While Old Town may be a newcomer to the Senior League World Series after sweeping through its six-team district tournament, it’s by no means a recent aspiration of these 15- and 16-year-olds — nor should it be considered a major surprise.
As 10-year-olds, the bulk of the squad came up one inning short of winning its district title. The city’s 10- and 11-year-old team won districts the next year.
Then in 2011, Old Town won the coveted 11- and 12-year-old District 3 Little League championship and advanced to states where it won its first two games before settling for a 2-2 finish.
“Ever since we were 12 and went down to the state championships, it’s pretty much been the same group of guys,” said pitcher-third baseman Dana Ouellette. “This has always been a goal, to go to this World Series, and now to be able to accomplish it is pretty amazing.
“It’s very surreal,” he added, “a very big deal.”
Eight of the 12 players on the squad — which will make its Senior League World Series debut at 1 p.m. Monday against the winner of Sunday’s 2 p.m. game between Lazio, Italy, and Saipan of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands — also are veterans of this spring’s Old Town High School varsity baseball team.
The Coyotes finished the regular season as the only undefeated team in Maine before an injury to the state’s 2015 Mr. Baseball, recently graduated pitcher-shortstop Eric Hoogterp, curtailed their playoff hopes.
“At the beginning of Senior League, we tried forgetting about the high school season because we were all really bummed out about it, and we had a lot of players on that team,” said outfielder T.J. Crawford. “But we’ve come back from it, and we’re not letting it bother us anymore. We’re just using it as motivation.”
Fundamental success
A look at Old Town’s run through the District 3 Senior League tournament quickly reveals the foundation of the team’s success — defense and pitching.
“It was mostly our defense,” said Crawford. “We have pretty good pitching, too, but all through the tournament we had just one error. When we need the hits we get them, but we’ve had a solid defense, and that’s been one of the key factors.”
In its three tournament victories, a pitching staff anchored by Ouellette, Kaleb Gifford and Ethan Stoddard yielded just three runs in 21 innings.
“One thing we did well was knowing we were one of the better teams but keeping a level head and treating every opponent as an equal,” said Ouellette.
Team members are Crawford, Ouellette, Sheehan, Nick Boutin, Dominic D’Angelo, Cole Daniel, Jake Dubay, Kaleb Gifford, Ryan Hoogterp, Jacob Ketch, Nick Magoon and Stoddard. Troy Sheehan is the manager, while Kevin Daniel and Mark Ketch are the coaches.
“These guys put together a plan and they’ve stuck to it,” said Sheehan, Austin Sheehan’s father. “It’s really a family. They’re good friends, really hard working and dedicated. A few of them have jobs, but any morning of the week you’ll find eight to 10 guys at the ballfield taking BP by themselves.
“They’re very driven, very focused, very ready to go,” he added.
They also are the latest example of a recent surge in Old Town schoolboy athletics, which has included not only baseball success at the high school level but the Coyote basketball team’s 2014 Class B state championship and 17-1 regular season last winter as well as the renaissance of a football program once on the brink of extinction.
“I think it’s cyclical,” said Old Town Little League President Toby Martin. “Old Town is just on an upswing right now for its athletes.”
Old Town also has been able to buck a recent national trend toward shrinking Little League participation numbers — adding a seventh 11-12 baseball team this spring and totaling 330 to 340 participants overall from T-ball and Farm League through Senior League.
“Our program is growing leaps and bounds,” said Martin. “That number has gone up by a hundred in the last three years. We were kind of worried about lacrosse, where a lot of the hockey moms want to take the baseball kids and move them to lacrosse, but it’s gone the other way with us. We promote Little League hard in Old Town.”
Perhaps there’s no better promotion for Little League than to witness its players competing on a world stage, as will be the case when Old Town joins international champions from Asia Pacific, Canada, Europe-Africa and Latin America and five U.S. regional qualifiers for the Senior League World Series.
“It’s really exciting for all of us, a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” said Austin Sheehan. “You only get to play these teams once, and everyone is looking forward to it. For me personally it’s a great opportunity to meet some new people, make some good friends and play some good opposition.”
The challenge ahead
While none of the Old Town players have played in a Senior League World Series game, several have watched the tournament from the stands over the years.
“You notice how the players conduct themselves, it’s almost like a major league game,” said Ouellette. “And every play could be a decision maker at the end of the game so you have to play every play like it’s the last play.”
At least a couple of factors should serve to bolster Old Town’s collective confidence as it embarks on its initial foray into international baseball.
Maine District 3 teams have gone 12-10 in the last five Senior League World Series, with teams from Bangor advancing to the 2010 world championshipgame and 2014 semifinals.
“I think we have a good chance,” said Sheehan. “I think we’ll stay competitive with the teams and all the games will be close. Seeing those Bangor teams do it, I think we definitely have a chance to do it, too.”
Old Town also is one of two teams — along with the U.S. Southeast entry from Dumfries, Virginia — that will benefit from a first-day bye as selected by blind draw in late June. That allows the team not only a chance to scout their opponents Sunday, but to have its full pitching staff available Monday against an opponent that already will have played one game.
“It’s a great advantage with the bye,” said Crawford. “We can see the competition and how they play and learn a little bit about them. The other thing is we’ll be able to talk to them after the games and get to know them a little and welcome them to the state of Maine. It’s a great opportunity to be the host team for something like this.”
And while that opportunity to serve in an ambassadorial role is welcomed by the Old Town players and coaches, so is the competitive challenge that awaits.
“It’s almost like the journey’s ended, but the journey’s also just beginning,” said Troy Sheehan. “These guys have always wanted to go to the Senior League World Series, and now we’ve finally got here and there’s been this ridiculous high, but now we’re back starting over again.
“So we’re going to take it one game at a time and see what happens,” he said.
-Credit Ernie Clark, Bangor Daily News