BRUNSWICK

It was just a few years ago. Bob Neron coached the Smith-Tobey Post 21 baseball team in Bath, a squad consisting of some of the top players residing in Brunswick, Topsham and its surrounding towns, and Bath.

Wow, what a team that was, with the squad advancing all the way to the American Legion state championship title game at Wainwright Field in South Portland.

To me, that was one of the most fun summers to cover sports in the Mid-coast area. See, after covering game after game after game during the fall, winter and spring, oftentimes with 40 teams to see, the summer is a time to take some muchneeded vacation time or to chill out in a golf cart taking photos of the various Maine State Golf Association championships.

Baseball in the summer brings me back to my youth, when American Legion baseball showcased the cumulative talent of different towns. Bitter rivals during the high school sports season became teammates and more often really good friends.

Times have certainly changed. Today, kids seem to choose working in the summer, something us “old timers” did back in the day as well, lounge by the pool or sit in front of an X-Box playing war games over the Internet. To tell young athletes to sit in a car, travel an hour and play a baseball game in the hot summer heat has turned into a chore.

But, that is only a small part of the problem in my opinion in the Mid-coast Legion baseball scene.

The number one issue is the amount of teams competing in a what amounts to a 20-mile radius.

It was a few years back now that Brunswick put together a Legion team, followed by the split of Bath and Topsham players, with Highland Green providing a team for School Administration District 75 players, along with athletes from Richmond High School. Bath incorporated Wiscasset High School into its fold.

This has watered down the talent pool, and basically has provided three ultrathin teams that as of today sit in the ninth, 10th and 11th positions in the 12-team American Legion Zone II standings (Andy Valley of Turner has folded due to a lack of players).

It is quite sad to be honest. Did egos force this separation? Did those in charge make these decisions for the betterment of baseball?

Frankly, I believe all those attached to American Legion baseball in this area have their hearts in the right place. The idea, to give area high school baseball players an avenue to improve.

Hey, I admit it! Winning an American Legion state championship is a great goal. When that happens, you advance to New Englands, and if successful there, it is off to Nationals. In high school baseball, it ends with the mid-June state championships.

But, let’s not fool anyone here. Most coaches leading American Legion baseball teams are hoping to see improvement come springtime, when players head to their high school gymnasiums and begin the tryout process for the upcoming high school season.

I had the opportunity to cover a game on July 3 between Locke Mills of Bethel and Smith-Tobey at Kelley Field. It was the Friday before the Fourth of July holiday weekend, and numbers were short.

In fact, both teams had just nine players in uniform for the game. Sitting in the empty dugout with Smith- Tobey and Morse High School baseball coach Garrett Olson, we watched players, several who will be freshman come late August and early September, competing against 19- and 20- year old athletes who found success at Dirigo, Mountain Valley and Telstar high schools this past season.

The whole situation of watching a few of these over-matched athletes trying their best screamed Junior American Legion. Up until this season, Smith-Tobey fielded a Junior American Legion team, but numbers forced the Bath squad to not field a team this season, thus giving those who could use the experience of playing against players their own age, no where to play other than the top tier of Legion baseball.

That is sad.

On Monday, Luke Potter’s Brunswick team forfeited due to a lack of bodies for the second time. Brunswick will be able to finish this season, but according to sources Brunswick will not be permitted to field a team next season.

So what then? Does Brunswick combine with Smith-Tobey or Highland Green, or has that avenue for future Dragons been taken away?

Here is what I believe should happen. Let’s get Smith-Tobey, Highland Green and Brunswick officials together and field a team that includes the top players from Mid-coast for next season’s American Legion program. The time has come again.

Then, the players who didn’t make that team can be placed into one or even two Junior American Legion teams. They will be the future of the American Legion program after all.

This way, we will grow Mid-coast American Legion baseball back to where it should be and not the watered-down version that is being played today.

BOB CONN is The Times Record sports editor. He can be reached at bconn@timesrecord.com.