BANGOR — The inability to string together hits and put up crooked numbers was the elephant in the box score for Saint Dominic Academy baseball all season, especially against top-flight competition.
At the best possible time, in the environment where it mattered most, the elephant turned into a three-ring circus Saturday, complete with all the requisite smiles and celebratory laughter.
St. Dom’s pounded out 17 hits and completed its amazing playoff run with authority, bashing Bucksport, 14-4, at Mansfield Stadium to win its fifth state championship. The Saints have won them all since 2005, and all under the leadership of Coach Bob Blackman.
“We finally got confidence at the plate these last two games,” senior first baseman Caleb Labrie said. “Coach really worked with us on taking outside pitches and just going with them. I think that was our biggest problem all year long.”
Labrie and freshman catcher Gavin Bates each went 3-for-4 with four RBIs. Mike Bryant was 3-for-5, scored three runs and drove in another. Ray Mosca and Justin Keaney each slapped two hits as bookends to the order, and every other St. Dom’s starter delivered one.
It provided a cushion far exceeding the usual margin of error for senior left-hander Mitch Lorenz, who scattered six hits, struck out two and walked one over the route, shortened to six innings by the mercy rule.
“We put runs on the board every inning,” Blackman said. “That was by far our best offensive game of the year, and to do it in the state game. Pitching was what got us here, but today the bats came alive.”
St. Dom’s (16-5) scored double-digit runs six times during the regular season, but only once against a team with a winning record. In four West playoff games, including victories over No. 1 Dirigo and No. 2 Winthrop, the Saints scored a total of only 16 while giving up five.
The Saints’ first three batters against Bucksport — Mosca, Bryant and Lorenz — singled before Bucksport lefty Asher Bowden plunked Labrie to force home the first run.
Bates got the green light with three balls, no strikes and ripped a double into the left-center field gap to clear the bases for a 4-0 lead.
“I think (Bowden) missed his spot. I think he wanted to go outside, and he gave me something I could drive,” Bates said. “I was in a slump all playoffs. I think that was my first hit, but what a way to break out.”
Bucksport (15-5) got one back in the bottom of the inning when Chase Cunningham singled and Bowden belted a two-out triple.
Third baseman Keaney kept the Golden Bucks from causing more commotion by ranging to his left and digging out two hard-hit balls. He smothered a screaming one-hopper off the bat of Jack Cyr, turning it into a force out, and later threw out Carter DeRedin to end the inning.
“Our defense early in the game was exceptional,” Blackman said.
There was no stopping the Saints thereafter. St. Dom’s started all six innings with a leadoff single.
Keaney christened the second frame with a low line drive through the box. That chased Bowden in favor of Jake Gauvin.
Labrie’s RBI single and two errors inflated the lead to 7-1.
“A couple little bloopers here and there. They just made us pay,” Bucksport coach Mike Cowing said. “They made us pay for everything we did wrong. You’ve got to give them credit for that.”
Matt Keaney’s base hit triggered a two-run third, one that gained momentum when Mosca reached on a dropped third strike.
Bryant followed with an RBI single. Lorenz’s squeeze bunt produced another run before Bucksport turned it into a double play.
Consecutive singles by Labrie, Bates, Ryan Harvey and Nate Richard made it 11-1 in the fourth.
“It’s huge in baseball when you get a lead,” Cowing said. “All your pitcher has to do now is throw strikes, and he knows that. That made it tougher for Jake. I think we had the infield in half the time. It’s harder.”
Bucksport, which lost Class B finals in 2000, 2003 and 2006, had only given up more than four runs twice while emerging as the No. 1 team in Class C East.
“We had a bad day,” Gauvin said. “It was probably our worst game all season.”
Rested a full week after his semifinal shutout of Maranacook, Lorenz (8-5) retired eight consecutive Golden Bucks beginning with the third out of the opening frame.
He allowed only one earned run.
“Everything just clicked today,” Lorenz said. “Especially being one of the (early) runs, it got my adrenaline going.”
Bucksport took advantage of two errors and a Dylan Soper RBI to score a pair in the fourth.
In the fifth, Bryant singled, stole second and scored on Bates’ hit to make it 12-3. Hayden Craig answered with an RBI double.
“That score does not show the type of team they are,” Bates said. “I was nervous. Honestly, I didn’t have a good feeling. Coach Blackman talked that team up a lot. But once we got that first inning going, I felt good.”
St. Dom’s hit the target of a 10-run lead in the sixth. Justin Keaney and Mosca singled to start the rally. Labrie knocked them home.
“It wasn’t until we got the 4-0 lead that we realized this was our game,” Labrie said. “We had to build our confidence. Once we got to the third inning with a 7-1 lead, we just kept holding down the gas.”
DeRedin doubled but was thrown out by Bryant with an assist from Bobby Shelley while trying to stretch it into a triple in the Bucksport sixth.
Soper (2-for-3) singled to extend the game. Richard reeled in Gauvin’s fly ball to end it.
St. Dom’s won all its previous state titles at Mansfield, but never after entering the playoffs as anything lower than a second seed. The Saints, who won 13 of their final 14 games, were No. 8 in the West.
“I’m still a little bit in awe, to see this unfold the way it unfolded,” Blackman said. “It was a journey that we’ve never experienced before. It’s caught me by surprise a little bit. If you had asked me at the beginning of the playoffs, I would have said we’re ready, and I don’t think anyone wants to play us, but can we win five in a row?”
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