The Boothbay Region 36ers’ season started with a bang June 20 when right fielder Gryffin Kristan hit a home run in the second inning. Boothbay was trailing, 2-0, and the 36ers’ clean-up hitter led off the inning. This was Kristan’s first home run at Sherman Field after playing two seasons for the local high school team. “It felt pretty good,” he said commenting about the blast to right-center field. “I’ve been waiting to do that for a while. The first pitch was a fast ball a little high. So I figured he would come back into the zone with the next pitch, and I would slap it to the right.” 

Boothbay took a 3-2 lead in the fourth inning on a throwing error which scored two runs, but in the end, the Central Maine Riverkings won, 6-3. Despite the loss, Boothbay manager Adam Harkins believed it was a good start for the new team. “They are a good team comprised of mostly 19 year olds. Our team is young with a lot of 16 to 17 year olds. We stayed with them the whole way, and it looks like a promising season,” he said.

This is the first American Legion baseball season in about two decades in the Boothbay region. This year’s team draws players from Boothbay, Wiscasset, Oceanside, Lincoln Academy, Lisbon and Brunswick. The team is sponsored by Post 36 in Boothbay and plays in the southern division which has seven teams. Boothbay will play 14 games followed by the playoffs this summer. The 36ers have 12 pitchers which should bode well for them with two to three games per week. Jimmy Fitzsimmons of Lisbon was the 36ers’ starting pitcher in the first game. He is a familiar face to Boothbay. Fitzsimmons was the winning pitcher during the high school season versus Boothbay and closed out the Greyhounds’ 2-1 playoff victory over the Seahawks in the Class C South preliminary round. 

Harkins is pleased with a well-rounded line-up filled with players from up and down the Midcoast. "When it came time to look for players, we were glad Jimmy was available,” Harkins said. “Not only is he an outstanding pitcher, he is also a great hitter who had three hits against us in the high school playoff game.”

Fitzsimmons pitched five innings, allowing four hits and three earned runs versus Central Maine. He struck out seven and walked two. Jacob Watkinson pitched two innings, allowing two hits and no runs. On offense, Fitzsimmons had a single; Kristan homered and singled. 

Two nights later, Boothbay nearly scored its first win against the Erskine Area Senior Legion team. Boothbay traveled to China and scored three runs in the first inning, but lost 8-7. Kristan pitched the final three innings and allowed two earned runs on three hits. He struck out four and walked four. Starting pitcher Duncan Oakes Nelson pitched 1.1innings, allowing one hit and three earned runs. Connor Calderwood relieved him and pitched one inning, allowing two hits and two runs. Aiden Sanborn pitched two-thirds of an inning, allowing no runs on two hits. On offense, the 36ers had eight hits: Calderwood had three, Maddox Cusumano had two, and Finn Harkins, Kristan and Oakes-Nelsen had one each.

This year’s team has six players from Oceanside High School in Rockland. Oakes Nelsen will play for Husson College next fall, but four others, Taygan MacAllister, Jacob Watkinson, Bryson Mattox and Alex Bartlett, will return to the Rockland school for their senior season. Calderwood  attends Southern Maine Community College in South Portland. All Northern Division American Legion teams were full, so these players looked south for an opportunity to play. Most have not played since Oceanside’s June 10 loss in the Class B North Maine high school quarterfinals. 

Other local players include Sam Markowitz, Cleyton Splaine, Trey Tibbetts and Liam Jacobs.

“We struggled a little bit against the Riverkings, but we haven’t played since the Lawrence game,” said MacAllister, who was the catcher versus the Riverkings. “It’s great to play with a new group of players and I’m very excited to play this season. It’s really not that far and is worth the travel. I just love playing baseball.”

Mattox is waiting to see his first Legion action. He injured his wrist in Oceanside’s playoff win versus Cony playing third base. “I dove for the ball and bent my wrist backwards. I have a doctor’s appointment on June 27 and I’m hoping to receive some good news,” he said. Mattox is also a pitcher who is looking forward to playing ball. “Duncan (Oakes Nelsen) told us there was potential to play Legion ball this summer, and I’m really looking forward to it.”

The 36ers’ next game is at 5:30 p.m. Monday, June 26 versus Capital Area in Augusta.