News and Announcements
Senior League Baseball Eastern Regional Staff
Tournament Director - Mike Brooker
Assistant Director - Rob Curtis
Umpire in Chief - Chris Parker
Assistant Umpire in Chief - Troy Lare
Stadium Director - David Mansfield
Gounds Crew Director - Ron St. Pierre
Another major baseball tournament is coming to Bangor
The move of the Senior League World Series to Easley, South Carolina, in 2017 jolted Maine District 3 baseball officials who had hosted that event at Mansfield Stadium for 15 years to largely complimentary feedback.
Little League Baseball officials apparently remembered the venue’s upbeat atmosphere, given its decision to move the Senior League East Regional Tournament from West Deptford, New Jersey, to Bangor beginning next July.
“You don’t know the number of people who have fond memories of their experiences in Bangor until they come up and tell you,” said Maine District 3 administrator Mike Brooker, who served as executive director of the Senior League World Series from 2002 to 2016.
“There were a lot of people in Little League that were dismayed that we lost the World Series.”
The move of the East Regional to Bangor after its 28-year-stay in New Jersey was prompted by a couple of factors, according to Little League East Region director Corey Wright.
“Some community involvement was lacking in West Deptford, and there’s been a change in their local league board of directors the past three consecutive years, and we just couldn’t get the ball moving with some of the progression we wanted to make going forward,” he said.
Wright said West Deptford officials and coaches were aware of the issues and were understanding about the decision to move the tournament.
Wright and other Little League officials made a site visit to Mansfield Stadium on Nov. 28, then the move was announced during an East Region Advisory Board meeting last Friday in Bristol, Connecticut.
“I was originally asked earlier in the year if we would consider doing the East Regional,” said Brooker, now a member of that advisory panel. “The East Region [board] thought it would be a good time for the move since we were available and West Deptford was having some issues.”
The East Regional tournament will run from July 17 to 24 with either a double-elimination or pool-play format. The champion advances to the Senior League World Series that begins three days later in South Carolina.
“Obviously with Bangor being a former World Series site, we knew we had a good diamond in the waiting,” Wright said. “The people there know at the core what’s involved with the operation of a tournament like this.”
The East Regional is expected to involve between 10 and 12 teams, including both the Maine District 3 champion as the host team and the Maine Senior League champion, which last summer was Machias from the Down East-based District 1.
The number of teams will be determined by whether New Hampshire and Vermont choose to send representatives. New Hampshire sent a team to the Junior League regionals for the first time last year, Wright said.
Other states that qualify teams for the East Regional are Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland.
Brooker said the fact none of those teams is more than a day’s drive away from the tournament site may result in an attendance boost compared to the Senior League World Series held at Mansfield Stadium.
“We foresee the regional as potentially bringing more people to Bangor than an international tournament,” Brooker said. “They’re not coming as far and it’s earlier in the tournament season, so we don’t have to worry about a European or an Asia-Pacific team that won’t bring anybody with them. Hopefully all of these teams will bring people with them.”
Another boost to attendance may come from having two Maine teams at the regional. Only one Maine entry, the Maine District 3 champion, participated in the Senior League World Series during its run in Bangor.
Senior League baseball has struggled to retain a foothold in Maine in recent years with the presence of such competing entities as Junior Legion and Cal Ripken Baseball.
District 3, which extends from the Pittsfield-Newport area in central Maine to Houlton in Aroostook County, has been the most concentrated area of Senior League competition.
Even that district has suffered since the Senior League World Series was moved to South Carolina because of transportation and other logistical issues.
Maine District 3 fielded only three Senior League teams last summer, but Brooker hopes the number of participating teams will increase within the district and around the state with the opportunity to compete in a regional in front of a hometown or home-state crowd for the chance to qualify for the Senior League World Series.
Brooker sent emails to other district administrators and Little League officials around the state informing them of the situation.
“I am hopeful that this will prompt a resurgence in Senior League baseball, and get a lot of towns and a lot of leagues back into Senior League in the district and in Maine,” he said.
“I was originally asked earlier in the year if we would consider doing the East Regional,” said Brooker, now a member of that advisory panel. “The East Region [board] thought it would be a good time for the move since we were available and West Deptford was having some issues.”
The East Regional tournament will run from July 17 to 24 with either a double-elimination or pool-play format. The champion advances to the Senior League World Series that begins three days later in South Carolina.
“Obviously with Bangor being a former World Series site, we knew we had a good diamond in the waiting,” Wright said. “The people there know at the core what’s involved with the operation of a tournament like this.”
The East Regional is expected to involve between 10 and 12 teams, including both the Maine District 3 champion as the host team and the Maine Senior League champion, which last summer was Machias from the Down East-based District 1.
The number of teams will be determined by whether New Hampshire and Vermont choose to send representatives. New Hampshire sent a team to the Junior League regionals for the first time last year, Wright said.
Other states that qualify teams for the East Regional are Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland.
Brooker said the fact none of those teams is more than a day’s drive away from the tournament site may result in an attendance boost compared to the Senior League World Series held at Mansfield Stadium.
“We foresee the regional as potentially bringing more people to Bangor than an international tournament,” Brooker said. “They’re not coming as far and it’s earlier in the tournament season, so we don’t have to worry about a European or an Asia-Pacific team that won’t bring anybody with them. Hopefully all of these teams will bring people with them.”
Another boost to attendance may come from having two Maine teams at the regional. Only one Maine entry, the Maine District 3 champion, participated in the Senior League World Series during its run in Bangor.
Senior League baseball has struggled to retain a foothold in Maine in recent years with the presence of such competing entities as Junior Legion and Cal Ripken Baseball.
District 3, which extends from the Pittsfield-Newport area in central Maine to Houlton in Aroostook County, has been the most concentrated area of Senior League competition.
Even that district has suffered since the Senior League World Series was moved to South Carolina because of transportation and other logistical issues.
Maine District 3 fielded only three Senior League teams last summer, but Brooker hopes the number of participating teams will increase within the district and around the state with the opportunity to compete in a regional in front of a hometown or home-state crowd for the chance to qualify for the Senior League World Series.
Brooker sent emails to other district administrators and Little League officials around the state informing them of the situation.
“I am hopeful that this will prompt a resurgence in Senior League baseball, and get a lot of towns and a lot of leagues back into Senior League in the district and in Maine,” he said.
Brooker said hosting the East Regional will be less taxing monetarily for the local organizers than the Senior League World Series. Teams are responsible for their own transportation and housing for the regional, though Brooker has arranged with four local properties to provide blocks of rooms during the tournament at somewhat discounted rates.
“Financially it’s a lot less of a burden,” he said.
District #3 administrator Mike Booker got the word from Little League in December.
The East Regional has been in West Deptford, New Jersey for the past 28 years. Last year, state winners from Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Pennslyvania and a local host team formed the 10 team Regional Tourney.
Brooker says the tournament will be held from July 17th through the 24th. It's a double elimination tourney with two Maine teams in the field - the District #3 winner and the Maine state winner.
The regional championship team from the Bangor tourney then goes to Easley, South Carolina for the Senior League World Series.
That event was held in Bangor for 15 years before Little League announced in 2016 that the event would be moved to South Carolina, citing logistical and financial reasons.
Little League does not pay for team travel to regional tournaments.
We would like to announce the 2019 Umpire Clinic, hosted by the Eastern Maine Baseball Umpires Assn, and the University of Maine. This is a clinic for any new or experienced umpires that work the 90 foot diamond.
The clinic will focus on 2-man mechanics as well as plate work. It will also feature working in a live scrimmage.
The date is January 26, 2018 and will be held at the University of Maine. This is a FREE event and all are welcome.
Fore more information or to register, go to: http://easternmaineumpires.homestead.com/clinic.html.
