AUBURN — The Zone 2 playoffs begin Tuesday, one day after Bessey Motors clinched the number-one seed and the automatic state playoff berth.
Bessey Motors (14-4) beat Franklin, 3-2, on Monday in the completion of their suspended game Saturday to overtake Pastime (14-4) will determine the first seed in Zone 2. Bessey owned the tiebreaker with Pastime and will get an automatic-bid to the state playoff tournament with the No. 1 seed.
Rogers Post (12-4) defeated Augusta (13-5) Sunday night, 10-0, to eliminate Augusta from top-seed contention. Had Augusta won, there would have been a three-way tie for the first seed. The No. 1 spot would have then been determined by Heal points.
Pastime manager Jake Brown said his team is playing for the championship, no matter its place in standings come Tuesday.
“We are thinking like we are going to play in the championship game,” Brown said. ““Even if we get the first seed, our goal is to still win the championship. We have a game plan for game one no matter the opponent.”
Pastime, who is coming off of a 5-0 loss to Bessey Motors on Thursday in which they were almost no-hit by pitcher Janek Luksza, are looking to fix their strategies to fit the nine-inning games of the postseason.
“We need to be tough on pitchers and tough on other teams,” Brown said. “With nine-inning games, there is a lot more strategy now, so I’ve been talking to my staff about what we’re gonna do in certain situations.”
Across the bridge at Rogers Post, manager Dave Jordan is preparing for a first-round matchup with Locke Mills (9-9) that he thinks will be closer than the records indicate.
“Locke Mills is a very strong team,” Jordan said. “They hit the ball and field well … They’ve played us tough, they beat us, Augusta, Pastime, and went extra innings with Bessey.”
Rogers, which has won six of its last seven, with the one loss coming in walk-off fashion to Bessey, is feeling good heading into playoffs.
“We are playing really good ball,” Jordan said. “At this point, you have to prepare your team and have them playing the best ball you can. As long as you put your best effort out there, you can be happy, win or loss.”
As for other teams in Zone 2, Augusta will play Franklin (5-12), Pastime will play River Valley (4-14), while Bessey Motors will play Gardiner (1-17).
While there are four teams at the top, Jordan believes Zone 2 is closer than the standings would have it seem.
“A lot of teams below them are really close, the field is pretty tight,” Jordan said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if there were some upsets.”
Pastime’s Jack Leblond gets back to first base safely before Bessey Motors’ Ashton Kennison can tag him out during the match up at Gouin Athletic Complex in South Paris on Wednesday.
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