CUMBERLAND – Greely has been a team that’s taken early leads this season and finished games out.

This time the Rangers had to come from behind to reach the Western Class B baseball final.

Second-ranked Greely scored seven runs in the sixth inning Saturday to overcome sixth-seeded Falmouth for an 8-3 victory.

The Rangers (15-3) trailed 3-1 heading to the bottom of the sixth before earning their way to the regional final at 3 p.m. Tuesday.

Greely sent 12 men to the plate in the sixth but only had two hits. The pitchers for Falmouth (11-7) hit three batters, walked four and threw three wild pitches.

“We played 51/2 fantastic innings,” said Falmouth Coach Kevin Winship, “but we didn’t finish. One bad inning has been our nemesis all year.”

Greely beat the Yachtsmen 13-3 and 9-1 in the regular season, but Falmouth entered the playoffs off some big wins, then eliminated third-seeded Cape Elizabeth 2-1 in the quarterfinals Thursday.

Greely took a 1-0 lead in the fourth, only to fall behind 3-1 when Falmouth scored three in the fifth, keyed by Dillon Dresser’s two-run double.

“We had confidence we would come back,” said Greely shortstop Matt Labbe.

A bright spot, said Greely Coach Derek Soule, was his team showed patience.

“We didn’t press and chase bad pitches. It was not a great day for us hitting, but at this stage you take any kind of win,” he said.

Greely’s rally started with Mike Leeman being hit in the foot by a Ben Goffin pitch. Dan McKersie blooped a single to right and Winship brought in Joe Barns to relieve.

“I thought Goffin was losing steam,” said Winship. “(Barns) has good pop with his pitches. We were looking for Goffin to go at least four innings. He pitched a great game for 51/2 innings.”

Leeman stole third and scored when the throw sailed into left. McKersie scored moments later on a wild pitch to tie it.

“It fell apart from there,” said Winship.

Two more Rangers were hit by pitches, two more wild pitches scored runs, and the second hit of the inning, another blooper just over the third baseman’s head by Labbe, scored another.

But that time the game had turned chippy with comments by players on both sides. Labbe got slapped with a hard tag in a rundown between third and home. The coaches attributed it to rivals playing in an emotional game.

“It’s a rivalry and a playoff game,” said Soule.

“It’s kids being emotional,” said Winship. “Other than that, it was a great game.”

Greely will have to wait to find out its regional final opponent at St. Joseph College. The other semifinal between top-ranked Yarmouth (14-3) and fourth-seeded Lincoln Academy (13-4), which was scheduled two hours later than the Greely-Falmouth game, was rained out. It will be played at 4 p.m. Monday. 

Staff Writer Tom Chard can be contacted at 791-6419 or at:

tchard@pressherald.com

Twitter: TomChardPPH