High school softball is merely a warm-up for Jordyn Rubin and Haylee Langlois.

For them, the real season is in the summer when they play with their travel team, the Southern Maine Flame.

“I like the experience, honestly, because you see teams that you never see, and like high school ball you don’t experience as fast of pitching,” Langlois said. “Like all these hits that people are getting, it’s like a different game when you play travel.

“It makes you excited to go.”

Langlois, who will be a junior at Monmouth Academy in the fall, and Rubin, who will be a sophomore at Lewiston High School, travel with the Flame mostly to Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

Last summer, the Flame went 48-5. That included the national qualifier in Rhode Island in August, at which Southern Maine placed first and earned an automatic berth to this year’s U16 ASA World Series in York, Pennsylvania from Aug. 2-6.

This is the second time Rubin and Langlois have qualified with the Flame for a World Series. They did so a few years ago, but the team couldn’t go because the players were still on Little League teams and couldn’t miss their games. (The tournament, held in South Carolina, ended up being rained out, anyway.)

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime chance,” Langlois said. “We’ve qualified twice. How does that happen?

“Thinking about it gives me goosebumps.”

The Southern Maine Flame organization consists of teams ranging from U10 to U18.

Langlois, 16, began playing with the U12 Flame. Rubin, 15, is in her fourth year, having switched over after only playing baseball.

“I tried my first year, and luckily I got picked by my coach now (Kevin Tutt),” Rubin said, “and I fell in the love with the game of softball.”

Rubin and Langlois are the only tri-county players on the Flame. Other players are from throughout the state, as far north as Bangor.

The players have been together for several years, and through that time have developed chemistry and a strong bond, despite being spread throughout the state.

“We all mix in, and we still outside of the games and everything, some of us hang out and different times,” Langlois said. “We’ve, like, formed a family. Everyone’s a family on that team, no one’s separated or left out.”

“Our team is pretty much family since the beginning,” Rubin said.

During their time together, the players and the team have improved. Part of that is due to facing a higher level of competition. Rubin and Langlois said they face more intimidating, stronger-armed pitchers and better hitters.

That last part makes playing defense more exciting for the two outfielders — Rubin, a KVAC first-team outfielder for Lewiston as a freshman in 2017 plays center field, and Langlois, a MVC first-team first baseman for Monmouth plays mostly right field for the Flame.

“In high school, when you play outfield, nothing comes to you, so everyone’s just bored,” Langlois said. “But (travel ball), all the balls go to the outfield, so you’re always on your toes, you can never be flat-footed.”

“In travel softball,” Rubin adds, “you can never be bored.”

The Flame is a nearly year-round commitment. The team practices for a few weeks in January, then every Sunday they meet for more in Gorham or Biddeford. They also have a practice tournament in April.

Then, they play tournaments on weekends from June to July. Sometimes, they have to leave early in the morning to make an 8 a.m. game in another state.

That’s all part of the fun.

“The experience is the best part,” Rubin said. “I don’t care about how much we win or anything. We’re family, so every time we win it’s special.”

Part of that experience are a few superstitions. One is that they have a group huddle before each game. This one is fairly new, but one they say has produced results.

The other superstition is more longstanding, dating back a few years: the players’ bats can never cross.

“We had the bats crossed and we weren’t hitting well, so we uncrossed all the bats and we started hitting,” Rubin said. “So we’ve kept it ever since.”

“If you cross them,” Langlois said, “you get yelled at.”

The Flame will be one of more than 20 teams competing at the national tournament next month. The only squad from Maine has high hopes for their week in Pennsylvania.

“To win it all,” Langlois said. “That’s our goal, is to play as we know we can and just win it all and push ourselves.”

If the Flame continue to be so dominant, they may skip their second year at the U16 level and play U18 next season.

Comments are not available on this story.