GORHAM — South Portland senior pitcher Andrew Heffernan was unyielding on the mound and a sparkplug at the plate.
He triggered an initial lead with his double in the fourth and went the distance in a three-hit shutout to lead the Red Riots to a 5-0 victory over Edward Little in the Class A baseball state championship game Tuesday afternoon at University of Southern Maine’s Ed Flaherty Field.
It was the second state title in three years for South Portland. Heffernan, the Maine Gatorade Player of the Year, played a big part in the latest triumph.
“(Edward Little) is a really good team,” said Heffernan, who is bound for Merrimack College. “I love those games and I work through those. I felt really good. The boys had my back behind me all day and I felt really good. Our team is awesome. It is a really special group of guys and feels really good to end it like this.”
Heffernan struck out six batters, didn’t walk a batter and benefitted from the Red Riots’ (17-3) defense.
“Oh, he was dynamite,” South Portland coach Mike Owens said. “He has been all year. That’s what we expected of him. What a great moment for him to have one of his best games (here). He is one of the best players in the state for a reason and he came through when it mattered most to us. ”
Edward Little losing pitcher Drew Smith left the mound for one out in a frustrating fifth inning and was replaced by Campbell Cassidy, but re-entered in the sixth to finish the game. Smith dominated the first inning and eventually struck out eight batters and set the side down in order the first three innings for the Red Eddies (12-8).
Owens was impressed with Smith’s dominating performance.
“I thought Drew (Smith) came out and threw really hard,” Owens said. “… He was throwing a lot of strikes in that outer half and kind of dominated us a little bit. But you could hear the communication in the dugout, talking how we are going to continue to approach him, and the at-bats got a little bit better as the game went on. He’s awfully tough and he pitched well, too, but we didn’t have a ton of hits.”
Edward Little coach Dave Jordan felt confident going into the game with his pitching contingent.
“We came into the game with three excellent choices on the mound (in Smith, Cassidy and Brady Vincent),” Jordan said. “I knew they had all their guys as well. Late in the game, we made a switch with somebody who has been fantastic for us and he made some great pitches, and (the Red Riots) had a few balls that fell in. I thought both sides’ pitching was great. I think it was errorless ball.
“I’m proud that our guys made contact. We just didn’t get enough balls to find enough holes and things like that. … But at the end of the day, you’ve got to score (runs) to win, and that guy Heffernan was doing a great job for them out there.”
The Red Riots finally figured out how to get around Smith’s hard-throwing performance in the fourth inning.
Heffernan started the ball rolling with his double, Richard Gilboy walked and first baseman Nolan Hobbs ripped his RBI double to bring home Heffernan and give South Portland a 1-0 lead in the fourth.
“Their pitcher is legit,” Heffernan said. “He was really throwing hard and the first at-bat, he got me, but the second time through I knew I had to make an adjustment and I got things going. I looked for a fastball and I felt really good.”
The fifth was the Red Riots’ breakout inning, when they scored four runs.
Smith struck out Curtis Metcalf, but walked Jaelen Jackson, who ended up stealing second and third bases. Then Cassidy came in for Smith and walked Johnny Poole, and Heffernan was walked intentionally to load the bases. Gilboy ripped a sacrifice fly, scoring Jackson.
The fifth-inning rally continued with Hobbs hitting a deep two-run single, scoring Poole and Heffernan to provide South Portland with a 4-1 lead. Nick Swain walked, moving Hobbs to second. Hobbs then came home when Hudson Iacuessa hit an RBI single to make it 5-0.
For the day, Hobbs had two hits and drove in three runs.
Edward Little’s first baseman, Vincent, had two hits. Smith singled in the seventh and was able to get to third with two outs, but Heffernan shut the door to complete the shutout.
“We never felt like we were an eight seed,” Jordan said. “I felt like we gave it all we had today. We just ran into a team that was better.”
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