MOOSIC, Pa. — There will be no playoffs for Portland Sea Dogs for the first time in five years.

That much was determined this weekend, when they ran out of road in the race for a post-season spot. Too much ground to make up and too little time left to do anything about it.

Which is not to say that the 2009 season has been a washout.

Not by any stretch, when you look at the real reason for the existance of the Dogs, and every other minor league baseball team, for that matter.

We’re talking about player development, and in that department, the Sea Dogs have had a banner year.

Another one.

One can point to the whopping 14 Portland alumni who are currently on the roster of the Boston Red Sox as examples of how full the prospect pipeline is that runs from Hadlock Field to Fenway Park.

But it doesn’t end there.

Bridging the gap between Portland and Boston is the Pawtucket, where, this moment, 15 more ex-Dogs are now PawSox.

And seven of them began the year in Portland before earning battlefield promotions.

The value of the time spent in Southern Maine with Dogs manager Arnie Beyeler and his staff has not been lost on any of them.

“It was definitely a big jump in my career,” said outfielder Josh Reddick ”“ who was summoned to Boston on Wednesday ”“ during Pawtucket’s road swing to Scranton and Lehigh Valley. “Just going down there and working on my development. It was a huge step for me this year.

“I listened to (Sea Dogs hitting coach) Dave Joppie. Good things happen when you listen to certain people.”

It was the sage wisdom of Dogs pitching coach Mike Cather that jump started righthander Adam Mills’ career.

Mills won his last eight starts with Portland, and the momentum is still carrying him through the final days of the season with the PawSox.

“He (Cather) helped me with the mental part of the game,” said Mills. “It was ‘if you have a bad outing, how do you prepare for the next one.’ That’s what ‘Cat’ was real big on.

“He said he saw a shirt that said ‘Success’, but all he saw was the ‘Suc’ part. He said, ‘sometimes you’ve got to suck, before you can have success. It’s something you laugh at at first, but it kind of makes sense. That kind of defines how my year went. That first month, I was trying to be somebody that I wasn’t.

“Then I got my head straight. When your head’s straight, you know what you want to do.”

The influx of Portland groomed-talent did not help Pawtucket earn a second straight playoff spot.

Truth be told, the PawSox are struggling to avoid finishing in the basement.

However, with the likes of catcher Mark Wagner, outfielder Bubba Bell, first baseman Aaron Bates, and hurlers such as Mills and Dustin Richardson ”“ all off whom wore Sea Dog jerseys on Opening Day ”“ Pawtucket manager (and former Sea Dog skipper) Ron Johnson is convinced that next year’s PawSox can be something special.

“The confidence level of those guys will continue to grow,” said Johnson. “We’re going to do some (tail) kicking next year.”

Speaking of Sea Dog alumni, former Red Sox outfielder Mark Kotsay was named as the ninth member of the Portland Sea Dogs Hall of Fame. The selection was announced by the club, Wednesday.

The Sea Dogs scored four runs in the sixth inning and pulled out a 5-3 come-from-behind win over the Trenton Thunder, Wednesday, before 5,241 at Hadlock.

Ryan Kalish went 2-for-4 and knocked in a pair of runs to lead the attack, while starter Blake Maxwell shrugged off a shaky first inning to throw six frames of four hit ball.

“We’ve got a lot of guys on this team who want to fight,” said Kalish. “We’re going to have fun and play hard, like we always do.”        

— Contact Dan Hickling at dhickling@journaltribune.com.