STANDISH — Improbable? Maybe. But only if you’re not associated with the Sacopee Valley High baseball team.

The Hawks, you see, have made late-inning comebacks their trademark this season. And the latest one provided an historic outcome.

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Sacopee Valley starting pitcher Anthony Haskell celebrates along with third baseman Kyle Jordan, background, after the Hawks beat St. Dominic 4-2 to win the Western C regional baseball title Tuesday at St. Joseph’s College in Standish. Photo by Gabe Souza/staff photographer

Fourth-ranked Sacopee Valley scored three runs in the top of the seventh inning to defeat third-seeded St. Dominic 4-2 for the Western Class C championship – the Hawks’ first since 1993 – at St. Joseph’s College.

The Hawks trailed 2-0 entering the sixth.

“There’s no doubt on this team,” said first baseman Mike Pingree, who doubled in the go-ahead run with one out in the seventh. “We battle all the time. There hasn’t been a game that we’ve given up on yet.”

Sacopee Valley (19-0) will play Washington Academy (15-4) in the Class C state championship game at 4:30 p.m. Saturday at St. Joseph’s.

St. Dom’s (14-5) lost in the regional championship game for the third consecutive year.

“We haven’t been (in the state game) for a long time,” said Anthony Haskell, who allowed four hits and struck out seven. “But I don’t think anyone in there is content yet. There’s one more game that we’ve got to win.”

Sacopee Valley, which scored six runs in the seventh inning to win its regional semifinal against Monmouth Academy, fell behind quickly again.

Haskell, admittedly nervous, walked the first two batters, then fielded a bunt by Mitchell Lorenz and threw it into left field trying to get the lead runner at third. That allowed Caleb Dostie of the Saints to score the first run. Haskell walked the next batter to load the bases. Out out later, Ray Mosca hit a sacrifice fly to left and the Saints led 2-0.

“Anthony was very nervous yesterday in practice,” said Hawks Coach Eric Anderson. “When he threw his bullpen he couldn’t throw a strike. Today he was nervous when he came out and it showed. But we stopped the bleeding, which was huge.”

“I just couldn’t find the zone,” said Haskell. “Coach came out and calmed me down. After that I was fine.”

The Saints threatened later, getting two runners to third in the second. One was cut down in a rundown, the other stranded with a strikeout.

They stranded another runner at third in the fourth.

“We didn’t get the key hit when we needed it,” said Saints Coach Bob Blackman.

Sacopee Valley got a run in the sixth when Brady Anderson tripled and scored on an infield hit by Roderick Maynard.

Haskell led off the seventh by reaching on an error when Lorenz made a nice play on his comebacker – knocking it down – but threw low and past first. Haskell ended up at second and went to third on a single to center by C.J. Dunnells.

Dostie, the Saints’ shortstop, then made an amazing play. With the infield drawn in, Alex Fenderson of Sacopee hit a hard grounder up the middle. Dostie dove to his left to snag the ball, then got up to throw home, where catcher Justin Keaney tagged the sliding Haskell.

“That play was as good as it gets,” said Blackman. “Too bad it wasn’t the third out.”

D.J. Shea followed with a fly to right, which was dropped, allowing Dunnells to score the tying run. Pingree hit a high looper to short center that fell between three players for a double, allowing Fenderson to score the go-ahead run. Shea scored the final run on a wild pitch.

St. Dominic got two runners on in the bottom of the seventh, but Haskell ended the game with a called third strike.

“They don’t feel the pressure,” said Anderson. “They come back, the whole team contributes. It’s a fun team to coach.”

Mike Lowe can be reached at 791-6422 or at:

mlowe@pressherald.com

Twitter: MikeLowePPH

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