By AL PIKE

Staff Sports Writer

SANFORD, Maine — Baseball is in Ric Allain’s blood.

Why else would the Sanford native and retiree who winters in Florida take a part-time job as a security guard at the New York Mets training facility — greeting guys like Mike Piazza and Mo Vaughn — when he could be golfing or better yet, lounging around?

"It’s the best job in the world," he said. "I met everybody every single day. It was a lot of fun."

He parlayed that longtime interest into a volunteer position with the Sanford Mainers, a second-year franchise in the New England Collegiate Baseball League, following a conversation with H. Allen Mapes, part of the club’s original ownership group and a well-known businessman from Springvale.

At first, Allain agreed to work three days a week, tops.

League: New England Collegiate Baseball League Stadium: Goodall Park Established: December, 2001 Miles from Dover: 25 Miles from Laconia: 60 miles Web site: www.sanfordmainers.com Hot dog: $1.50 Regular soda: $1.00 Season opened: June 8 Seasons ends: Aug. 3 Phone number: 1-207-324-0010 Tickets prices:All seats general admission. Adults $5; students/seniors $3. Season tickets: Adults $75; seniors (60 and older) $60; students $50; family $200. President/general manager: Neil Olson Manager: Scott Brown Directions to Goodall Park: From Dover: Follow Route 4 to Rollinsford and into Maine through North Berwick to Sanford. Go left several miles on Route 109. Take left on Roberts Street between Dunkin Donuts and City Hall. Field is down hill on the left. From Laconia: Take Route 11 to Rochester, then cross into Maine and pick up Route 202 into Sanford. Take right and proceed to Roberts Road. Take another right between Dunkin Donuts and City Hall. Field is down hill on the left. Claim to fame: Play in a ballpark where Babe Ruth once played and was rebuilt after 1997 fire. Had two players taken in the Major League Baseball draft following first season.

"That lasted about as long as the time it took to say it," he said with a laugh. "It never worked out that way. It just kept on growing, and I fell in love with the program. I keep getting raises. Every time I do something good around here they double my pay. The same with everyone else around here."

Of course, nothing times two is still nothing, despite a promotion from public relations director to assistant general manager. For Allain and most of the front office personnel, however, working summers for the Mainers has quickly become a labor of love.

If early returns are an accurate indication, the community is beginning to feel the same way about an affordable entertainment option and a team that is one month into its second season, playing its games at historic and refurbished Goodall Park, which was destroyed by fire six years ago.

"Drawing fans was not really a goal," said Scott Montesano, the Mainers director of public relations. "The goal was to get 5, 6, 700 fans a game. When you come here you’ve already got that. And with a ballpark like that, it’s a gem they had to take advantage of."

"Players should want to play here because it’s one of the premier wooden-bat leagues sanctioned by the NCAA," said Sanford manager Scott Brown, the pitching coach at Cortland State in New York. "They’ll play in front of scouts and they’ll get great community support. Plus it’s in New England. Maine is Vacationland. It’s a part of the country some of these guys have never seen before and may never see again."

The Mainers were one of two expansion teams added to the growing NECBL last year. The total now stands at 13 in the league’s 11th year of operation with the addition of Vermont for this season. The league sought Sanford, not the other way around, making the relationship a unique one from the start.

"They approached us rather than us approaching them," Allain said of the initial contact between the town and the league, "which is the opposite of what usually happens. This is living a dream for someone like myself."

Acting on word of mouth, league officials felt the location was good and the town, long known for its baseball tradition, had a real diamond in the rough in Goodall where between-innings promotions are now commonplace and Broose D. Moose, the Mainers green-and-gold clad mascot, roams the grounds at-large.

Although the product struggled on the field last summer, the Mainers averaged 658 fans per game, or almost 90 percent of seating capacity, to rank sixth in the league. The team was in contention until a pitching shortage caused them to lose 18 of their final 22 games and finish last in the Northern Division.

"They put it all together in six months," Montesano said. "They got a late start. It was a growing year. On the field they struggled. With the late start you can’t pick the cream of the crop, so to speak. What they got were players who weren’t quite as committed."

Despite only two full-time players back from last year’s club, the Mainers have done a complete about-face thus far with a new crop of recruits carefully selected from the college ranks. Entering Saturday night’s showdown at Goodall with the Torrington Twisters, Sanford had a 14-3 record, good for first place in the Northern Division and a 2½-game lead over the Keene (N.H.) Swamp Bats. The Mainers had also won nine of their last 10, including a franchise-record six straight.

Among other things, the Mainers used their first offseason to beef up staff and to look for local sponsorship. In addition, season-ticket sales are up to about 100. Despite Sanford’s connections to the sport, the Mainers are filling a void for local baseball fans and fast becoming integrated into a community where many players stay with host families.

"There’s never been a town team here before last year that’s played in a league such as this," Montesano said. "So there’s a newness here. And there was a bit of a gap between Portland as far as sports go. What’s also intriguing is the area has a history of baseball. People have enjoyed going to sporting events, and they could see people would support that level of amateur baseball. There’s a sense of pride. When you talk about Sanford, somewhere or another baseball is mentioned, and that’s what the ownership group wanted to take advantage of."

Typically, there is a large turnover in summer baseball leagues such as the NECBL and the Cape Cod League, long reputed to be one of the premier wooden-bat leagues in the country. Players graduate, sign pro contracts or simply choose to move on so they can experience another part of the country.

For the serious pro prospect, however, there’s the competition. Despite the Cape’s history and lure of top talent, some believe the NECBL is almost as inviting. The facilities are better in the NECBL and the teams travel more with franchises now located in all six New England states. The NECBL and the Cape are two of nine NCAA-sanctioned summer baseball leagues around the country.

"The Cape Cod League is overrated," Montesano said. "It’s no longer the league where all the top players go to. They play basically at high school fields. (The NECBL) is more of a minor league atmosphere, and players are getting more interested in playing in this type of league. If the Cape Cod League is a 10, this league would be a nine right now. The Cape Cod League is still based on reputation. They still get many of the top players, but others opt for this. The talent is more spread out, it’s not all focused on the Cape Cod League."

As proof, the Mainers had two players from last year’s club drafted by major league teams, and another signed a free agent contract. Not bad for a first-year franchise that featured a pair of second-team NECBL All-Stars and plays a 42-game schedule, not including an exhibition with Team USA next Sunday.

The Mainers have also had a couple of prospects drafted before they ever had a chance to play a game for Sanford, which this season has players on its roster from as nearby as the University of Maine (pitcher Greg Norton and catcher Aaron Izaryk) and Southern Maine (third baseman Brian Marshall), and as far away as Notre Dame, Tulane and Central Florida.

Former Winnacunnet High School star Bryan Towler, a catcher who recently completed his freshman year at Marist, was on the original roster for this season, but opted to play elsewhere. Brown does all of the recruiting. He talks to college coaches he can trust, and listens closely to their recommendations. Still, nothing is guaranteed, and in many cases he looks beyond the numbers.

"It consumes me," said Brown, who was hired by the league and placed in Sanford. "My phone bill is out of this world in terms of minutes. I look for good, solid baseball players from winning programs. I look at character after that."

According to Allain, the operating costs for one season are approximately $125,000, including $20,000 last year for transportation alone. Most of the money is attained through fund raising. The coaches are the only paid employees, and they receive a nominal stipend. The remainder are volunteers and interns.