BIDDEFORD — Coming into this summer, Biddeford Savings coach Keith Leblanc said his team’s biggest question mark was how a youthful squad, which is missing the bulk of this past spring’s Biddeford High School roster, would adjust to seeing varsity-level pitching for the first time.

After a few early struggles Leblanc’s anticipation has turned into a reality, allowing his young team to jump put to a 5-3 start in the early part of the American Legion Zone 5 schedule.

“I feel like offensively we’ve kind of started to turn the corner and hit the ball much better. We’ve cut down on strikeouts a lot from the beginning until now so I’m encouraged about that,” Leblanc said.

“It’s just kind of an adjustment getting used to the speed of the game. Everything moves faster ”“ guys are running faster, guys are throwing harder. Everything needs to be done at a little bit quicker pace. It takes some time, but we’ve played eight games now and everyone’s really starting to get used to it.”

If there was any question about the team’s ripening maturity, it was answered last Saturday during a doubleheader against rival Fayette-Staples of Saco.

After dropping the first game, which it had led 4-0, Biddeford bounced back in the second contest largely thanks to its younger players, including sophomore Casey Twomey, who had three RBI, and junior Corey Creeger, who threw a complete-game in an 8-2 victory.

“A couple guys that played varsity for us all year, Corey Brown and Casey Twomey, have really hit the ball very well and picked up where they left off,” Leblanc said. “Corey Creeger has had a really nice summer offensively and Kerry Crepeau, who was on the freshman team, has had a really nice summer.”

While the lineup is coming around, Leblanc said it’s in the other half of the inning where he’d now like to see his squad make some improvements heading into the meat of the summer slate.

“Defensively has been shaky at times and pitching’s been pretty good, but we go through these periods we’re we’ll walk a guy for no reason,” Leblanc said. “We’ve got to cut down on those type of things and get a little bit more consistent.”

York-Wells impressing

If there was any thought of a letdown after York High School’s state championship run this past spring, it’s been put to rest early on in the Legion schedule.

Saco Bay PT, made up of players primarily from York High School, as well as Traip Academy and Wells High School, has started off the season 5-1-1 after an 8-5 victory over Bonanza of Sanford on Tuesday.

Saco Bay PT coach Chuck Chadbourne, who like Leblanc is working with a younger lineup during the Legion season than the one he had at York during the high school season, has so far been happy with his team’s development.

“I think it’s been what we expected,” Chadbourne said. “We’ve been a tad inconsistent, but I think that’s typical with how we run our Legion program. We use it as a developmental tool and we’ve been transitioning some of our younger kids into the lineup.

“I think we’re getting exactly what we hoped for ”“ some experience from the younger guys and some contributions to help balance that transition out from some of the older guys.”

Chadbourne’s younger batters were thrown into the fire early but responded, beating Biddeford ace Patrick Wilson in the opener, 3-1 on June 18.

They also impressed in a 4-4 tie against Staples Crossing on June 28, scoring four runs in five innings off Marshwood hurlers Deion Stewart and Alex McLean, two of the better pitchers in the SMAA this past spring.

“The speed of the game and the skill level of the game are a little high for some of them, so they’re adjusting to that,” Chadbourne said. “At this level they’re facing good to high-level, quality varsity pitching, so they’ve just got to play, and understand by playing in these games they progress.

“I can tell them to keep their foot down, but until you look silly on a curveball or get fooled on a changeup, all of the sudden they start to get what we’re talking about.”

And while he lost some key parts off that York state championship team, Chadbourne picked up a major asset in Bennie McMinnis, a junior from Wells who is 3-0 for Saco Bay PT so far.

McMinnis also played for the Legion team last year as well as fall ball with many York players, and has provided a consistent, durable, go-to arm so far this summer.

“He’s throwing the ball very, very well for us,” Chadbourne said of McMinnis. “He knows he needs to pitch to contact and give us a chance to make some plays for him, and I think that’s benefited him greatly.

“He’s not out there trying to strike everybody out, he’s pounding the zone and his walk-to-strikeout ratio is down, which is very good.”

Busy week ahead

The area’s Legion teams have a demanding week ahead of them starting today, as there are five game days scheduled over the next eight days.

It starts with doubleheaders on Saturday, with Massabesic heading to South Berwick for a pair against Staples Crossing, Biddeford Savings hosting Bonanza at St. Louis Field and Fayette-Staples making the trip to York for a twin bill against Saco Bay PT.

The teams then have a rare Monday slate to make up for the Independence Day holiday, and then have a regularly scheduled week of games on Tuesday, Thursday and another doubleheader next Saturday.

The sheer number of games should make it difficult for coaches to manage their pitching staffs in the week ahead, but Leblanc said that’s far from being a negative and should open up the door of opportunity for plenty of players on every team.

“At this point it’s about development and to see how they react to situations,” Leblanc said. “If it’s your turn to pitch, I’ll throw you out there and see what you can do. It’s time to kind of prove themselves and see if they can play at this level.

“A lot of guys will get opportunities. It will be a good test to see how guys bounce back and to see really what they can do.”

— Staff Writer Cameron Dunbar can be contacted at 282-1535, Ext. 323.