Suzie Edwards, 18, will be taking the field on America’s birthday to sing the national anthem for the Portland Sea Dogs.  

Edwards has been one of the baseball team’s regular summer performers since she was 10, first auditioning after being approached by her father, Steve, who saw the call for singers on Facebook. However, this is the first time Edwards was offered their “premiere” Fourth of July date.  

“It's quite impressive, especially coming from a small school,” her father said.

He’d had concerns about her transitioning from being a “big fish in a small pond” to a more competitive college environment, but is happy to see she's held her own. Edwards just finished her first year at UMaine Orono, where she is majoring in psychology and minoring in music. She is also part of her school’s choir.  

In addition to baseball games, Edwards has sung the "Star-Spangled Banner" twice for the opening of the State Legislative session in Augusta, once upon invitation from former Rep. Stephanie Hawke and, most recently, Rep. Holly Stover.  

“It is probably the hardest song ever, just because there's so many ways that you can make it your own, and the range is just crazy,” Suzie Edwards said.

Some belt with their chest, others use their head voice. Not much of a belter, Edwards prefers a more “traditional” singing approach. But no matter what Edwards is set to perform, she doesn't get nervous. “I think music is a way of expression for me, and it just allows that pent-up energy or emotion to be released.” 

She fell in love with the stage in kindergarten during a local talent show where she sang the Beatles’ “Blackbird,” and did a duet with her father of another Beatles song, “Money (That’s What I Want).” 

Since then, Edwards has been involved in anything music-related the Boothbay school system had to offer. Starting choir in second grade, she did district and all-state during high school. She also was a staple of the theater department.  

And not only is Edwards vocally inclined, but she was in band since the fourth grade, even sticking with it during COVID when she was the only member. “It was just me and my clarinet against the world,” she said, laughing. 

Edwards knows her way around several other instruments, including piano, saxophone, ukulele, guitar, trumpet and drums. She hopes to get involved with her college’s band in the upcoming school year.  

She’s also thinking of auditioning for next year’s Central Maine Idol, a multi-week singing competition with a $10,000 grand prize.

“I just love showing people what I enjoy doing.” 

The July 4 game between the Sea Dogs and the New Hampshire Fisher Cats begins at 6:20 p.m.