The Screamin’ Eagles under-13 AAU team, sponsored by Goodwins Chevrolet and Hammond Lumber, won first place in the North Open Division Championship Tournament and placed third (out of 77 teams) in the New England Championships recently.

The season began in February with indoor training at Coastal Performance. The team consists of players from Richmond, Bowdoin, Bowdoinham, Topsham and Brunswick. The Screamin’ Eagles are coached by Jeff Singleton, Seth Holman and Josh Lohr.

The Screamin’ Eagles were seeded eighth in the North Open Division, and in pool play defeated The Central Maine Bucks in their first game, 4-2. Hunter Lohr got an RBI in the third inning, scoring Joshua Dionne, who had reached on a walk. Cam Dutton singled to score both Caleb Manual and Sam Sharpe. Lohr had a double in the fifth inning and scored the winning run when Sharpe hit a sacrifice fly.

Lohr and Sharpe pitched, combining for five strikeouts and only one walk.

In the second game versus the Central Maine Bobcats, the Eagles’ bats were hot in the fifth inning with singles from Lohr, Will Kavenaugh, Cade Charron, Justin Vachon and Dionne. They scored four runs in the fifth, one in the sixth and three more in the seventh for a final score of 8-7. Lohr and Sharpe pitched and combined for three strikeouts and two walks.

Entering bracket play in Nashua, N.H., the Eagles had to face the No. 1-seeded team in the North Division, Baseball Unlimited from of Waltham, Mass. Behind solid pitching from Lohr and Sharpe, the top seed failed to put a runner on base after the third inning as the Screamin’ Eagles won, 4-1. Lohr and Sharpe combined on nine strikeouts and five walks. Baseball Unlimited picked up just one hit.

Dutton and Kavenaugh each had three singles on the day, Lohr, Sharpe, Devin Tobin and Charron each had two hits, and Cody Holman and Vachon added a single each.

Game two had the Eagles facing the Central Maine Bucks again. After a slow start the Eagles were down 4-1 in the fifth inning. But, the late innings continued to be all about the Eagles, who scored nine runs and never looked back. Repeat hitters were Lohr, Sharpe, Dutton, Charron and Vachon. Bucks pitchers allowed eight walks and had three strikeouts, while the Devin Tobin went the distance on the mound for the Eagles with five strikeouts and two walks. Strong defense kept the Bucks at bay in a 10-4 Eagles win, giving the squad the North Open Division and advancing them to the New England tournament.

In the New England tourney, the No. 3- seeded Eagles traveled to Anna Maria College to face the No. 2-seeded Providence Prospects, the Open South Division Champs. The Eagles struggled to get runners on base against strong pitching by the Prospects, with only Tobin, Sharpe, Lohr and Dutton getting hits on the day. The Prospects had seven hits and took the win 8-3, sending them to the championship game where they lost to Quincy.

“Although the season ended with a loss in the semifinals, the entire coaching staff is extremely proud of our accomplishments this season,” said coach Holman. “These kids worked through countless hours of offseason workouts, some kids were playing on three baseball teams during the season, which inevitably forced us to work through some injuries.

“This is the first year this group has played together, and very early in the journey they came together as team. We could see that we had a strong club. Every time we had our backs against the wall, we battled on and put together a solid effort. Obviously, finishing third out of 77 teams in our first season gives us very high expectations for next year.”