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BY GARY HAWKINS, Staff writer 08/08/2008

AUGUSTA -- Wet conditions Thursday at Morton and McGuire fields have postponed the State American Legion Baseball tournament once again this week.

Because of the saturated fields and a forecast for more rain today, the four remaining teams in the tournament won't play again until Saturday.

Conditions permitting, Gardiner is scheduled to play Gayton Post of Auburn at noon followed by a game between Nova Seafood of Portland and Bessey Motors of South Paris at 4 p.m. Both games are scheduled to be played on McGuire Field.

"We've deemed Morton pretty much unplayable," tournament director Al Cloutier said. "In the outfield, it's pretty bad."

Rain has alternated between light and heavy all week long. Games Monday and Tuesday were delayed while Wednesday's were washed out altogether. Given the rain forecast for today, Cloutier estimates there's a 50-50 chance of games being played Saturday.

"I've told (Legion officials) to check out the possibility of an alternate site," he said. "They could play three on Sunday somewhere and an if-necessary game Monday."

Should the fields be too wet to play, Cloutier said a decision to move the site will likely come Saturday morning. Updates on field conditions and game sites will be posted on the Web site augustababeruth.com.

The New England tournament runs Aug. 14-18 at Bristol, Conn., and teams are expected to report Wednesday. According to tournament rules, teams must have three days off before the tournament begins, so the Maine champion would require a national waiver if state games extend into Monday.

Should games go as scheduled in Augusta, the tournament will conclude Sunday.

"If it doesn't rain too hard (today), they'll tackle (the field) and try to get it ready for Saturday," Cloutier said.

If nothing else, the rain delays will give pitchers a chance to rest their arms. Tournament rules state pitchers can throw no more than 12 innings during a three-day period so everyone will be eligible for Saturday's games.

"Everybody will be fresh," Gardiner manager Pete Dennis said. "We're going to get the best, that's what you want."

Nova is the lone remaining unbeaten team in the double-elimination tournament and could survive a loss Saturday. The team, comprised of players from Deering High School -- this spring's Class A champion -- hasn't won the legion tournament since 2004, when it went on to win the national championship.

A loss by Gardiner, Gayton or Bessey Motors will bounce those teams from the tournament.

• • •

A number of factors have contributed to less-than-anticipated revenue for the tournament. Because of the rain, the cost of materials for preparing the fields has already exceeded a couple of thousand dollars.

Coupled with the lack of an Augusta team in the field and slow sales for advertising in the program, Cloutier said the tournament is currently at a break-even point.

• • •

Win or lose, this will be the last year of coaching for Gardiner's Pete Dennis.

"I'll give it a break," Dennis said. "It's been 18 summers (of coaching) ever since my kids were little."

Dennis has coached the Legion team the last seven years and before that coached in Little League for 11 years. He hopes to hand the job over to assistant Dan Burdin.

"Dan's been doing it right along with me since my second year," Dennis said. "He's been a huge part of what we've done."

Gary Hawkins -- 621-5638

ghawkins@centralmaine.com

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