SACO — It is natural to be nervous heading into a big game. If a team isn’t nervous, that can come back to bite them. For the Sanford 9-11 year-old All-Stars, their calmness actually helped them on Thursday evening.
“The kids were really loose before the game. Matter of fact, I thought they were too loose,” joked Sanford coach Pat Curliss.
The relaxed demeanor Sanford played with paid off big. They weren’t tense at the plate. That attitude propelled them to a 12-2 victory to advance them to the District 4 finals on Saturday against York.
In the bottom of the first, a few missed opportunities by Saco allowed Sanford to stay alive. It was after a missed catch in left that Sanford’s confidence began to build. After a couple walks, Brady Adams dropped a hit into the gap in shallow left field for Sanford’s first hit of the game. Then, Braden Baron would score Easton Genest for the first run of the game.
Tyler Brennan hit for a single that would bring in Scott Long and the score grew to 3-0. A few more errors allowed for easy runs for Sanford. Finally, a two-out double by Long would make it 9-0 for Sanford.  Despite the score, Saco coach Matt Cyr wasn’t going to let his team get discouraged.
“I told them to keep your heads up and start making some plays. The game was not over,” said Cyr.
The nine-run outburst from Sanford made it easy for the team to play even looser than Curliss joked about.
“They came out and hit the ball. They were very disciplined at the plate.

It kind of rolled from there,” said Curliss.
In the second inning, the Sanford All-Stars pushed their lead to 10-0 with an RBI single from Genest. Saco had a chance and made good contact in the third inning, but Sanford’s defense was all over it.
“When you go out and play defense with a 10-run lead, you can do whatever you want,” said Curliss.
With such a big deficit, Saco still wasn’t ready to go home. In the fourth inning, they took advantage of Sanford’s pitching fatigue. They chose their pitches wisely and a couple batters worked walks. A Simon Gellis single pushed in a run to make it 11-1. Then, another walk made it 11-2, but Saco needed more than that.
“We tried to chip away at the lead and we fell short,” said Cyr.
In the bottom of the fourth, a huge double would bounce into the fence for Sanford, calling the game at 12-2 — and Sanford was moving on to the district finals.
For Saco, this short three-week season was a lot of fun and a chance to get better.
“Learn from your mistakes that is what it’s about,” said Cyr. “They got extra reps after the regular season — it’s a bonus.”
Sanford will face York on Saturday in the 9-11 year-old District 4 Championship and will have to win two games to be crowned champs. With hot bats from both teams, Curliss expects it to be a good game.
“It’ll be a lot of hitting. They are very talented offensively,” said Curliss.
The game will be played at 11 a.m. at Summer Street Field in Saco.
— Sports Writer Brandon Eckles can be reached at [email protected] or at 282-1535 ext. 323. Follow the Journal Tribune Sports Department on Twitter @JournalTsports.