The Trenton Acadians and Old Town-Orono Twins had their Junior American Legion postseason runs come to an end this Saturday, losing in the first round of the Northeast Regional Tournament at Mansfield Stadium in Bangor.
The Acadians had come back from a five-run deficit to beat the Twins 14-10 in the Maine state finals on August 7, and both teams received a bid for the highly competitive, 8-team contest last weekend.
Trenton ended up losing 17-7 to eventual runner-up Swampscott of Massachusetts, while the Twins lost to eventual champion Berlin Post of New Hampshire 13-0. Both Maine squads finished with a 12-10 overall record.
The Northeast regional tournament also featured teams from New York, Connecticut and Rhode Island. It was the first time since before the pandemic that Maine had sent teams to the regional championships.
“We were on the younger side, and the competition was excellent,” first-year Twins head coach Shaun Tidwell said. “It was a great experience for my players, and they had a lot of fun this season. They meshed together incredibly well.”
The Twins drew players from Old Town, Orono, Bangor and Millinocket. Calum Bryant led the way on the mound, Blaze Morris was terrific at shortstop, and Jake McCannell was an extremely important presence in the clubhouse, according to Tidwell.
The back-to-back Maine state champion Acadians largely originated from Ellsworth, and also represented MDI and Sumner. Dawson Curtis took home Maine state tournament MVP honors, Jackson Barry was stellar on the mound, and Colin Sullivan and Evan Haskell were consistent offensive contributors.
“It was a pretty long week and we faced some tough teams, but the boys always stayed together regardless of the score,” Acadians head coach Conner Wagstaff said. “It was hard to believe how well our young guys played this season, and we had great leadership from the older guys.”
