The Portland Sea Dogs’ Place in Southern Maine
- Brick + Tides
- May 21
- 3 min read
Hadlock Field was loud before the first pitch.
By 10:00 in the morning, school buses lined the streets outside the ballpark.
Students poured through the gates in waves, teachers counting heads while volunteers pointed groups toward the concourse. Inside, the smell of popcorn and grilled hot dogs drifted through the cool spring air as players stretched along the first base line ahead of the Portland Sea Dogs’ annual Education Day game.
An 11 a.m. baseball game in Portland, Maine might seem unusual elsewhere.
Here, it feels normal.
For three decades, the Portland Sea Dogs have become part of the fabric of southern Maine life. For families in York County, a trip to Hadlock Field does not require a weekend vacation or a major expense. It is close enough for a weekday field trip. Close enough for grandparents to bring grandchildren. Close enough for a summer tradition to repeat itself year after year. Month after month. Or, week after week.
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And for some local kids, close enough to eventually become part of the organization itself.
Emily Morin grew up in Lyman, attending games at Hadlock Field long before she worked there.
Now, at 24 years old, she helps manage partnerships and sponsorships for the club after first arriving as an intern during college.
“I’ve always gone to Sea Dogs games,” she said. “So I knew I wanted to be here.”
Morin graduated from University of Maine in 2024 after studying sports management and marketing. A year later, she returned to the Sea Dogs full time after the organization encouraged her to apply for an opening.
Today, she helps oversee sponsor relationships throughout the season — everything from signage and announcements to tickets, promotions, and game-night activations.
But when she talks about the job, she rarely talks about contracts first.
“It’s the people,” Morin said. “It’s the staff, it’s the fans, the environment.”
A few sections away from Morin’s office, another York County native was weaving through the ballpark with a camera and phone in hand, capturing social media content between innings.
Matt Page, a 21-year-old from Saco and graduate of Thornton Academy, is beginning his second season
as a Sea Dogs intern.
Like Morin, his connection to the team started long before his internship.
“My grandfather was a season ticket holder,” Page said. “I have a lot of memories here.”
Page grew up playing baseball throughout southern Maine before attending Stonehill College, where he studies sport management. Since then, his resume has quickly expanded beyond Maine.
In the last two years alone, Page has worked around the Super Bowl, assisted with NFL hospitality operations, and spent time in Milan during the 2026 Winter Olympics working alongside NBC hospitality staff and executives.
Still, when he talks about Hadlock Field, his voice changes slightly.
“This is really what I love to do,” he said.
The scale may differ from the Olympics or the NFL, but the atmosphere matters.
“You can go across all of Southern Maine,” Page said, “and someone asks you what you do, you say you work for the Sea Dogs and they instantly light up with a smile.”
That reaction was visible throughout the ballpark Thursday morning.
Thursday’s game itself gave the crowd plenty to scream about. Portland pitching combined for a franchise-record 20 strikeouts in a 1-0 win over the Reading Fightin Phils, with right-hander Blake Wehunt striking out 11 batters over five innings.
Children screamed as Slugger crossed the concourse. Entire sections stood during between-inning promotions. Volunteers hurried through aisles carrying trays of food while teachers attempted — mostly unsuccessfully — to keep students seated between innings.
On the field, the Sea Dogs were playing professional baseball. In the stands, thousands of Maine students were experiencing something they would likely remember for years.
Morin sees it during fireworks nights and school events.
Page sees it in the crowds and the energy around the team.
Both grew up in York County attending games here. Both now help create the same experiences they remember as kids.
And somewhere in the crowd Thursday morning, among the school buses and screaming students and foul balls, there were probably a few future interns watching too.
Many thanks to Emily Morin and Matt Page for their time on Thursday, May 21, 2026 and to the Portland Sea Dogs for issuing BrickTides.com our first ever media credential!
For the Sea Dogs schedule and tickets, visit their website at : https://www.mlb.com/milb/portland
Photos and interview by Cy Cyr. www.cycyr.com
Follow @BrickTides on Instagram.
