Marshwood 12U baseball wins Maine Cal Ripken title, advances to New Englands

SOUTH BERWICK, Maine — The Marshwood Cal Ripken 12-year-old All-Star baseball team is extending its plans for summer baseball.

The Hawks are off to New England regionals after capturing the age 12-and-under Cal Ripken Maine state championship with a 3-0 victory over Noble at Berwick Recreation Field last Friday.

"In the finals, we just really played a solid defensive game and we didn't allow a runner past second base," Marshwood head coach Jared Richards said. "The kids really played to their potential."

En route to the state championship, Marshwood started off with a comfortable win over Brunswick, 16-3, and followed up with wins over Messalonskee, 9-6, and Andy Valley, 11-1.

Marshwood now has two Cal Ripken teams in New England regionals, as the Marshwood 8-and-under team will be competing in Milford, Connecticut.

The 12U regional tournament at Pope Park in Acushnet, Massachusetts, begins Friday with opening ceremonies, and games start Saturday.

"It really made all the hard practices the boys have put in worthwhile," Richards said on the state championship. He's excited to "see how we match up to these other states."

Marshwood's first game is at 12:30 on Saturday against Rhode Island, in the first round of pool play and single-elimination bracket starts a few days later on Tuesday and the championship game will be played on Wednesday.

"It's a very unique experience because you get to play other states and players you haven't seen; and different talent levels," Richards said.

Marshwood's roster includes Ryan Burke, Joey Couture, Chase Eardley, Benjamin Gennaro, Curtis Kent-Kimber, Bodhi Marshall, Brendon Martin, Jakob Murphy, Evan Richards, Colton Smith, Tommy Verrill and Kolbe Emerson.

Coaches include Jared Richards, Sean Marshall, Patrick Burke and Matthew Gennaro.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Marshwood 12U baseball wins Maine Cal Ripken title, advances to New Englands