During its Class A championship run last year, South Portland showed it could win in any manner, taking three of its five postseason games by just one run.
The Red Riots will field another competitive squad, with hopes of not waiting nearly 70 years between titles again. The lineup is a strong point, bolstered by the junior trio of Richard Gilboy (.358 batting average last season), Andrew Heffernan (.395) and Johnny Poole (.362).
Runner-up Bangor, which won five straight titles from 2014-2018, came up a run short of returning to the throne. In order to get back, Bangor will look to a senior laden rotation with right-handers Max Clark, Luke Missbrenner and Connor Prouty.
Thornton Academy, knocked out of last year’s tournament by South Portland in the semifinals, has Georgetown-commit Cody Bowker ready to lead. Last season, the two-way prospect went 7-1 on the mound with a 0.40 ERA, two postseason wins and a .448 batting average. Perfect Game grades the Bowdoinham native as a 9 on its player rating scale, which puts him as a “potential top-10 round pick and/or highest-level college prospect.”
