Tony Doucet has been involved in five Babe Ruth baseball regional tournaments as a coach or manager since 2002. Some of his teams have battled through the winners’ bracket, others through the losers’ bracket. Regardless the scenerio, Doucet has always stated the obvious.

“You definitely need pitching to win a regional and we do have depth this year,” said Doucet, as the Manchester Ray LeBel All-Stars open the 13-year-old New England Regional Babe Ruth Baseball Tournament against host team Westfield, Mass., Friday at 7 p.m. at Bullens Field.

The rest of the field in the regionals includes Central Maine, Bennington, Vt., Warwick, R.I., New Milford, Conn., and Pittsfield, Mass. Wednesday night unbeaten Lynn and once-beaten Braintree were squaring off for the Eastern, Mass. state title.

Jake Carrier (three), Cam Nowakowski (three) and Drew Merrick (one) have started on the mound for the 6-1 LeBels, while Merrick, Pat Swanson and Joe Silva have seen relief duty.

The biggest surprise for Doucet has been his offense, which has churned out 68 runs in seven games.

“I knew we were going to have pitching and speed, but I didn’t expect the offense to hit the ball the way they have,” said Doucet, who noted that 14 of his 15 players have started at least one game.

“We have a deep roster and everyone in the lineup has contributed something,” said Doucet. “In the second championship game against Portsmouth, Johnny Robinson came into the game and delivered a clutch bunt to drive in the winning run. Anyone on our team is capable of making something good happen to help us win.”

Joe Silva, Pat Swanson, and clean-up hitter Nate Hall have delivered key hits at the top of the order while Merrick and Jason Derome have alternated and produced from the third and fifth spots in the lineup. Kyle Jutras and Colin Fitzgerald have sparked the team while Joey Davis, Riley Denver, Alec Boucher, Nick Salcito and Brett Geddes have provided the team depth in various roles.

Doucet, along with assistant coaches Justin Noone, Nick Doucet and Micah Blanchette, are familiar with many of the regional teams.

“We’ve had a regional rivalry with Westfield dating back to the 1980s,” said Doucet. “Their program is similar to ours in that they always seem to qualify for at least one regional tournament a year. We faced Central Maine and New Milford last year and they’re two very good programs. Warwick (R.I.) is no stranger to the regionals. So we know we’re going to be challenged by some very good teams this week in Westfield.”

Westfield tourney chairman Bill Amanti said his program will be hosting a regional banquet today at 5:30 p.m. at Scanlon Hall at Westfield State University. The tournament will crown a champion on Wednesday, Aug. 1. The 13-year-old World Series will be hosted by Kitsap County, Wash., Aug. 15-22, at the Kitsap Fairgrounds and Event Center.

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Schedule
Friday, July 27
Game 1: E. Mass. vs. Milford, Conn., 10 a.m.
Game 2: Central Maine vs. Warwick, R.I., 1 p.m.
Game 3: Pittsfield, Mass. vs. Bennington, Vt., 4 p.m.
Game 4: Manchester, N.H. vs. Westfield, Mass., 7 p.m.

Saturday, July 28
Game 5: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 4 p.m.
Game 6: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 7 p.m.
Game 7: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 10 a.m.
Game 8: Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 1 p.m.

Sunday, July 29
Game 9: Loser Game 6 vs. Winner Game 7, Noon
Game 10: Loser Game 5 vs. Winner Game 8, 3 p.m.
Game 11: Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, 6 p.m.

Monday, July 30
Game 12: Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10, 6 p.m.

Tuesday, July 31
Game 13: Loser Game 11 vs. Winner Game 12, 6 p.m.

Wednesday, August 1
Game 14: Winner Game 11 vs. Winner Game 13, 11 a.m.
Game 15: If needed, second title game, 2 p.m.