Monmouth’s Matt Marquis collects the final out at first on Mt Abram’s Adam Luce during a Class C South semifinal game Saturday in Monmouth. Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal Buy this Photo
AUGUSTA — The Monmouth Academy baseball team had just boarded a bus to St. Joseph’s College in Standish for the Class C South title game Tuesday against Lisbon, when the call came in.
The regional final games were off.
“We were ready to go,” said Monmouth coach Eric Palleschi said. “We had just got on the bus and were halfway down Academy (Road) by the school when we got the call. So we turned around, came back and practiced instead. We had just pulled out of the yard. The kids were good, but they were a little disappointed.”
The Maine Principals’ Association postponed all baseball and softball regional finals from Tuesday to Thursday because of inclement weather.
The Class C South baseball final is now 3 p.m. at St. Joe’s on Thursday. The C South softball final between Madison and Hall-Dale will follow at 7 p.m., also at St. Joe’s. The Skowhegan and Bangor softball teams will now play the A North title game at 7 p.m. Thursday at Cony High School. The A North baseball final between the same schools is 4:30 p.m. at Morton Field in Augusta.
Lisbon baseball coach Randy Ridley said he was “a little irritated” to have the showdown with Monmouth postponed.
“Of course no one is happy, it is what it is, but it’s going to be hard to refocus for Thursday, the boys were amped up today,” he said. “It’s just the anxiousness of wanting to play that will be difficult, but this gives us two days to work on some things and get ready so we’re ready to go on Thursday.”
The Class A South and C North title games were also moved to Thursday.
Class B and D regional finals will be played Wednesday, along with lacrosse semifinals.
Skowhegan’s Hunter McEwen dives into second with a stolen base as Lewiston’s Daxton St. Hilaire is pulled off the base by a wide throw during Saturday’s Class A North semifinal game in Lewiston. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal Buy this Photo
The St. Dom’s softball team takes on Searsport in the D South final on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at St. Joseph’s.
The Oak Hill/Monmouth/Lisbon boys lacrosse team hosts Wells for a Class C semifinal Wednesday at 4 p.m., and the Maranacook/Winthrop hosts Waynflete for a girls Class C semifinal in Readfield at 7 p.m.
State championship games are scheduled for Saturday.
Skowhegan softball coach Lee Johnson said there were some benefits to having the game against Bangor postponed.
“We have a few extra days to work on some things,” he said. “Everybody still has things to work on, so that’s good.”
But, then again …
“Then again, you can look at this either way,” Johnson continued. “At this time of the year, you just want to play games. We were ready.”
Both Skowhegan teams practiced Tuesday.
“This makes us a little more anxious,” said Skowhegan baseball coach Mike LeBlanc. “We were anxious to get on the field Tuesday. We were ready to go. Hopefully, this won’t affect us. We do seem to roll with the punches well. We’ll deal with it and we’ll be ready to go.”
Added Johnson: “I wasn’t surprised they got postponed. It’s a damp day, and I don’t know that there would be a whole lot of drying going on. In the regional championships, you want a good day. We would’ve preferred to play, but we’ll manage it. You can look at it either way.”
The Times Record staff writer Eli Canfield contributed to this report.
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