SACO — Most of the Saco Little League Major All-Stars have been playing together for years — and it didn’t take long for the newest member of the team to learn what this group is all about.
“It’s been fun. I’ve made a lot of new friends. They’re all nice … they are like a family,” said Mac Lowe, who moved to Saco from Portland this year.
Lowe joined a team that won the 10-11 year-old state championship last summer and has helped the Saco All-Stars win the District 4 title and earn a shot at the 11-12 year-old state crown.
“He’s been a great addition and he’s helped us a lot this season,” said second baseman Brady Kezal on his new teammate.
Saco picked up a hard-fought 8-5 win over Biddeford in the District 4 final last Friday and will kick off the state tournament on Friday in Machias.
“They understand that that was one of our goals to win the district title, but we have a bigger goal which is to win the state title and they came back ready to work,” said Saco manager Kirk Purvis.
Purvis isn’t worried about his team being too nervous heading into states as the Saco All-Stars have been enjoying the ride and are ready to just have some fun over the next week.
“They came back from winning a district title and everybody was laughing and having fun. Everybody was really loose and really looking forward to going up there and competing,” Purvis said.
One advantage this team has is the experience they gained last summer when they captured the 10-11 state championship.
“It’s going to help us a lot because we know what we’re going to see,” said first baseman Matt Kimball.
Purvis echoed that sentiment.
“It’s huge because the kids have now gone through it before and they saw success, so to go up there and have a taste of that already, I think it is a real benefit to us,” said Purvis.
The Saco All-Stars are confident heading into states, especially after they went through the tough District 4 field to punch their ticket to Machias.
“(Districts) was a very fun experience. Those district games, we played the four best teams with all their aces pitching, so it was tough competition,” said shortstop Jeremiah Chessie.
The Saco squad believes their close bond off the field, helps them be successful on the field.
“We’re all friends and we just laugh a lot and have fun. It’s real fun playing baseball with these guys,” Kimball said.
The Saco All-Stars, who face Scarborough at 3 p.m. on Friday, are not expecting the path to another state championship to be easy.
“We’ve seen a couple games of Scarborough, but the other teams we really don’t know. I really don’t know what to expect, but I’m expecting good competition for sure,” Chessie said.
“I think it’s just going to be fun. We’re going to have good competition and hopefully we can win it all again,” added Kezal.
While the road to a championship will be difficult, these Saco All-Stars have one simple goal.
“Win the whole thing and go to regionals,” said Lowe.
— Sports Editor Pat McDonald can be reached at pmcdonald@journaltribune.com or at 282-1535 ext. 322. Follow the Journal Tribune Sports Department on Twitter @JournalTsports.