SACO, Maine — For most weekends this summer, parents, players, and coaches of the Saco-Dayton Little League All-Star team spent their time at the ballpark.
The season for the ten to twelve-year-olds began in the Spring, and the competition picked up as Spring turned into Summer. On the first Saturday in August, the team is still locked in on baseball.
The Maine state champions made the drive to Bristol, Connecticut to compete in the New England Regional tournament with a chance of advancing to the Little League World Series on the line.
“It’s an experience of a lifetime," pitcher and catcher Noah Fullerton said before practice on Thursday. “I’ve loved playing in Maine, I love the state and I think it will be really cool.”
Fullerton and his teammates have been taking the diamond together for years. In fact, all but one boy on the team played in a similar regional tournament two years ago when they were eight to ten years old.
“I think if nothing else it opened their eyes to the level of competition within the New England region," Head Coach Jamie Gagnon said. “It will certainly help their confidence and certainly help know what they’re expecting.”
It's been a long summer for Gagnon and his team as they practiced or played nearly every day this summer, but he said the energy has never left.
“I think that’s the thing about this team that’s so amazing, is they continue to come out every single day, they enjoy being here, they genuinely enjoy the game of baseball," Gagnon added.
In the state tournament, Saco-Dayton had to come from behind to pull off wins. That experience will be crucial this weekend when the team takes on North Manchester-Hooksett New Hampshire on Sunday night.
“I think it kind of shows our team won’t ever give up, we’ll kind of keep on going," infielder Brennan Tabor said.
If you drive by one of the little league fields in Saco, you'll notice plenty of signs showing support of the local nine. There's even a reminder posted to catch the game on ESPN+ when the team takes the field at 7 p.m.
“It’s been awesome to see how the community has rallied around this team and to see how the team has accepted it, embraced, and looking forward to getting down to Bristol," Gagnon said.
The team had quite the sendoff to Bristol Saturday morning. Parent's cars were decked out with 'Saco All-Stars' and 'State Champions' written on the windows and the players took a trolley ride around town with an escort from the Saco Police and Fire Departments.
To follow along with Saco-Dayton, you can find the tournament schedule below:
https://www.littleleague.org/world-series/2021/llbws/tournaments/new-england-region/