The Zone 2 regular season is down to its last week of games and there’s still plenty to sort out before the start of the zone tournament on July 21.
It’s going to be a hectic sprint to the finish line for some teams, especially Rogers Post, which has to play six games in six days. It began Monday with a 2-1 victory over Franklin County and continues with home games against Pastime and doubleheaders against Locke Mills and Bessey Motors.
Rogers Post’s current three-game winning streak moved it from seventh place to a tie for fifth with Gardiner, though Gardiner holds the tie-breaker. Rogers Post has found its grove after a mid-season slump.
“In the summertime there’s so many variables with guys trying to do all the different programs they try to do for the different sports that they play,” Rogers Post coach Dave Jordan said. “We didn’t really have our complete team on a number of days. On other days where we did have our complete team some of these guys are going from seven in the morning until when we’re done with baseball and fatigue would set in. I just think we were giving our best effort, but there were times where we were sluggish and we played good opponents.”
Undefeated Bessey Motors is in a similar situation as Rogers Post in terms of number of games remaining on the schedule. It has to play five games in as many days and finish a suspended contest against Pastime. Bessey Motors has a 2½-game lead for the No. 1 seed and has clinched a spot in the zone tournament. Franklin County has done so as well.
The battle for the eighth and final playoff spot between Locke Mills (6-7) and Highland Green (5-9) got a bit more interesting with Highland Green’s victory over Smith Tobey on Monday. Highland Green will be awarded a victory via forfeit over Andy Valley on Tuesday to close within a game of Locke Mills.
Locke Mills finishes its season with one game against Gardiner and doubleheaders with Rogers Post and Franklin County. Highland Green finishes with a single game against Smith Tobey and a doubleheader with Augusta. Highland Green owns the tiebreaker with Locke Mills by virtue of two head-to-head wins.
“The schedule has been money in terms of the randomness of how the big games come down toward the end,” Zone 2 co-commissioner Todd Cifelli said. “There’s going to be a lot of jockeying for seedings. It’s neat to see having nine teams vying for eight spots.”
If the season ended today, Bessey Motors, Franklin County, Augusta, Pastime, Gardiner, Rogers Post, Tri-Town and Locke Mills would be the postseason participants. Bessey Motors, Franklin County, Augusta and Pastime would host first-round games at their home diamonds in a single-elimination, nine-inning contest on July 21.
The first-round winners will play in a double-elimination format in Augusta beginning July 22.
“It should be a really interesting the next couple of weeks,” Jordan said. “There are some teams that are very good, but if there is any year for upsets I think this could be one of those years. There’s a lot of depth in our zone and it’s made for an interesting and fun summer thus far. We’re hoping that summer will extend out a couple more weeks, but we have to keep taking care of business.”
There’s still work to be done before the zone tournament. As of right now, no team is locked into their respective position.
“It’s the benefit of having eight teams make the zone tournament,” Cifelli said. “We’re going to have a host of teams over .500 and it just shows the balance and the parity of the league. It’s going to be a wild zone tournament. It’s truly an anything-can-happen type of tournament.”
Brunswick ineligible for postseason play
The playoff picture in Zone 2 is still unclear, but one thing that is clear is Brunswick won’t be participating.
Brunswick was ruled ineligible for postseason play this week, having forfeited a pair of games thus far this season.
“It’s kind of a philosophy I was using this year was if a team forfeited a game that’s a mulligan,” Cifelli said. “But if it was two games or more we wanted to benefit the teams that could get kids to games.”
When Brunswick has been able to field a team, it’s been competitive. Brunswick has wins over Tri-Town and Rogers Post this season and played Franklin County within a run.
“It’s hard, but there needs to be a reward for teams that are finding ways to piece together and at least get nine kids or more there to games,” Cifelli said.
Brunswick had been fighting with Locke Mills and Highland Green for the final playoff spot.
Bessey Motors, Pastime call it a draw… for now
Unless we’re talking about the 2002 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, baseball games don’t end in a tie.
But that’s exactly what happened Thursday in Lewiston with Pastime and Bessey Motors. With the game tied 7-7, both clubs ran out of sunlight and the game’s completion was postponed.
Cifelli said he’s given both clubs until Friday to finish that game as he’d like to have the regular season end with Saturday’s doubleheaders, as originally scheduled at the beginning of the season.
The forecast calls for rain on Wednesday, and if the day’s slate gets washed away those games would get moved to Friday. As a result, the completion of the Bessey Motors-Pastime contest would get pushed to Sunday. If the game has no influence on the standings, there’s a chance it could go uncompleted.
Bessey Motors won the first meeting 9-3 on June 29 in Paris.
Tri-Town’s Bridgham receives honor
He’s been hitting the cover off the ball all season, and on Sunday Tri-Town’s Kaleb Bridgham was recognized for it as the Zone 2 player of the week.
Bridgham hit .533 in four games this week with two home runs. The Poland native also pitched six innings of relief against Brunswick on Thursday, allowing just one hit.
Tri-Town went 1-3 during the week, its lone win coming in shutout fashion against Augusta. Bridgham crushed a two-run homer in the fourth inning during the 5-0 victory.
Bridgham has three home runs on the season.
Tri-Town currently sits in seventh place in the zone at 7-7. It plays at Smith Tobey on Tuesday and hosts Bessey Motors on Thursday. Tri-Town will be awarded a pair of victories via forfeit on Saturday against Andy Valley.
With two wins assured, Tri-Town needs either a win in its final two games or one Brunswick loss in its final five games to clinch a spot in the zone tournament. Brunswick (4-9) and Highland Green (4-9) are tied for the ninth spot in the zone. Tri-Town split with Brunswick and defeated Highland Green in its only meeting.
Prime time meeting
Rogers Post 153 will host Pastime in a late-season, late-night matchup Tuesday. In a slight change to the schedule, the Auburn-based Rogers Post will play in the prime time slot at 7:30 against its rivals from Lewiston at Auburn Suburban’s Little League complex.
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