TRUMBULL, CONN. — After falling to Windham in the 2014 state championship game, the Augusta Babe Ruth All-Stars were determined to prevent history from repeating itself as 15-year-olds.
The team accomplished that goal Monday afternoon by virtue of its 5-0 win over Auburn in a winner-take-all final at St. Dominic Academy, but Augusta is still not completely satisfied.
“Not yet,” pitcher Noah Bonsant said. “(Windham) only won one game (last year at regionals) and we want to win more than they did.”
Augusta will be looking to continue its season as far as it can beginning Friday, as it will represent Maine in the New England regional at Trumbull High School in Trumbull, Connecticut. The local boys — who are in Pool B — will first take on Western Massachusetts champion Pittsfield at 1:30 p.m., Friday, then Vermont champ Lyndonville at 10:30 a.m., Saturday and finally Rhode Island champion Cranston at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday.
The top two teams in Pool B will then be seeded accordingly against the top two teams in Pool A — featuring the champs from Connecticut, New Hampshire, Eastern Massachusetts and host Trumbull — in a single elimination tournament. The team left standing will represent New England in the 15-year-old Babe Ruth World Series, scheduled for Aug. 13-20 in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee.
“I’m honored, I guess, because no one thought that we were going to be there,” Bonsant said of what it means to represent Maine in the tournament.
A rising sophomore at Erskine Academy, Bonsant has played a key role in helping Augusta reach the regional tournament. He tossed seven scoreless innings of three-hit ball in a 3-0 win over Windham in the opener, and then bounced back to allow just a single hit — over two days, nonetheless, after play was suspended in the fifth inning Sunday due to inclement weather — in the victory over Auburn.
“Noah’s been very consistent,” Augusta coach Mike Bechard said. “We actually lost Noah in the districts because he hurt his knee in the first game, so we didn’t have him for the other three games. Noah came through for us big time.”
It has not just been Bonsant that has come through for Augusta, though, as it has also gotten strong pitching contributions from Hunter Chasse, Devon Maschino and Cole Lockhart as well. Chasse has also been strong at the plate, as have Dylan Presby and Marc Cloutier.
“(Cloutier is) 16 and he hasn’t played since he was 12. He came in the second game, so he played a little over three games and I think he got like seven hits,” Bechard said. “I don’t know how many runs he drove in, but it was like he didn’t miss a beat.”
Augusta will depart for Trumbull on Thursday morning to make it to Connecticut in time for a 4 p.m. coaches meeting and 5:30 p.m. welcoming dinner for players. Prior to their departure, the team has been focused on raising funds to help offset travel costs.
“We just won on Monday so (Tuesday) we did a bottle drive, (Wednesday) we don’t have practice because I need to talk to the parents about fundraising stuff,” Bechard said. “We just went to some local businesses and some family and friends that donated some money, too. It’s been pretty good.”
Evan Crawley — 621-5640
ecrawley@mainetoday.com
Twitter: @Evan_Crawley
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