The Northern Maine high school baseball championships will climax on Tuesday afternoon, when Classes A through D have their regional title games.
With just one No. 1 seed and just one defending champion remaining, the playoffs are ripe with new faces and underdog storylines.
Here’s who is one win away from the state finals, organized by class.
Class A – No. 2 Messalonskee vs. No. 4 Bangor, 5 p.m. at Morton Field in Augusta
The Messalonskee Eagles (15-3) of Oakland enter Tuesday as the favorites to advance to the Class A state title game, having no-hit Bangor (11-6-1) on May 15, en route to an 11-0 victory at Mansfield Stadium.
In the playoffs, the Eagles — who are averaging eight runs scored per game this season — beat No. 7 Mt. Ararat of Topsham 13-9, and then got homers from juniors Ty Bernier and Michael Achorn to overpower No. 3 Skowhegan 6-5.
The Bangor Rams are a team with a rich tradition of winning and a relatively young roster. Bangor has 25 regional titles (and 14 state championships), and has ideas of increasing that number to 26 with five sophomores in their starting lineup.
Bangor kicked off its postseason with a comfortable 6-2 win over No. 5 Oxford Hills, and then came back to defeat its archrival No. 8 Brewer — who previously upset No. 1 Hampden — in the regional semifinals.
Like Messalonskee, the Rams have a well-balanced offense averaging 7.1 runs per game, and a talented yet wild pitching staff. Both sides are conceding roughly five runs per game.
Class B – No. 1 Ellsworth vs. No. 6 Caribou/No. 7 Oceanside, 3:30 p.m. at Mansfield Stadium in Bangor
The Ellsworth Eagles (17-1) have been a force this season, beating Bangor in extra innings, beating rival No. 5 MDI on three separate occasions, and compiling a plus-79 run differential through 18 games this season.
Ellsworth previously won the Class B state championship in 2019 and 2022, and has a good chance at returning to the mountaintop due to their depth on the mound. Head coach Dan Curtis can turn to senior Miles Palmer, junior Brayden King and sophomores Dawson Curtis and Jackson Barry at any time, and has derived 6.2 runs per game from his bats.
Caribou and Oceanside are both 10-7 teams that pulled off major upsets in the B North regional quarterfinals, defeating teams that had previously swept them in the regular season.
The Vikings demolished reigning state champion Old Town 12-2, and the Mariners cooled off two-loss No. 2 Lawrence 4-1. Their regional semifinal matchup was postponed from Saturday afternoon to Monday afternoon due to inclement weather.
Class C – No. 2 Washington Academy vs. No. 4 Bucksport, 7 p.m. at UMaine-Orono
Fourth-seeded Bucksport (12-6) is the only baseball team remaining in northern Maine that won a regional title last year, upsetting the 16-1 Foxcroft Academy Ponies 6-0 over the weekend with a one-hit performance from senior pitcher Gavyn Holyoke.
The Golden Bucks had a rocky season with a tough schedule, but have a proven championship pedigree, winning it all in 2022. They will have a tall task in beating No. 2 Washington Academy (16-2) on Tuesday night, who they were previously swept by in the regular season.
The Raiders of East Machias are an up-and-coming squad with five underclassmen in their starting lineup, including the heavy-hitting Colby Moholland and 5-foot-8 phenom Trevor Shimabukuro.
Washington Academy has a fearsome run differential of plus-133, and a pitching staff that has more strikeouts (153) than walks and hits combined (135) this season. WA handled No. 7 Fort Kent 11-4 in the regional quarterfinals, and shut out No. 3 Mount View 4-0 in the semis.
Class D – No. 2 Stearns vs. No. 4 Woodland, 7 p.m. at Mansfield Stadium in Bangor
The Class D regional final between Stearns (14-4) and Woodland (15-2) is the third 2-4 matchup of its kind happening in northern Maine on Tuesday.
The No. 2 Minutemen from Millinocket kicked off their playoff run by eliminating reigning regional champion Bangor Christian 13-2 in the quarterfinals, and then dispatched No. 3 Fort Fairfield 5-3. Led by senior Caden Raymond and freshman Emerson Michaud, Stearns’ offense has been exceptional all year, posting 8.3 runs per game.
The No. 4 Dragons of Baileyville beat No. 5 Lee Academy 7-5 in the regional quarterfinals, and then defeated No. 1 Katahdin 8-3 in the semifinals. The Dragons have a menacing run differential of plus-144, with serious depth on both sides of the ball. A win on Tuesday would mark Woodland’s first regional title in school history.
