BANGOR – Ryan Conley blew his cover.

No way can he hide in the ninth spot in the batting order next year.

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Ryan Conley, 5, and Grayson Beressi, 29, hold the state championship trophy after Falmouth beat Foxcroft Academy 2-0 to win Class B baseball. Photo by Michael C. York

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Conley’s two-run double in the second inning Saturday propelled Falmouth to its first Class B baseball state championship. The Yachtsmen beat Foxcroft Academy 2-0 at Mansfield Stadium behind the two-hit pitching of Thomas Fortier and a defense that helped extend a consecutive scoreless innings streak to 22 over three playoff games.

“Our defense and our pitching carried us,” said Falmouth Coach Kevin Winship, “and our offense did just enough (Saturday) to make us the state champs.”

Foxcroft (15-6) managed only two singles and never got a runner to third base off Fortier — who also tossed a two-hit shutout Monday in a regional semifinal against Morse.

A lean, left-handed junior, Fortier (6-1) struck out six, walked three, hit a batter and picked off a runner.

“He’s been lights out,” Winship said. “He’s our workhorse. He controls running games, he throws strikes, he mixes speeds well. He keeps teams off- balance.”

Fortier’s only loss was another two-hitter, 2-1 against Greely. Against Foxcroft, Fortier threw 113 pitches and retired nine of the final 10 batters.

“He had great stuff (Saturday),” said Falmouth catcher Jeremy Lydick, “a lot of movement on his fastball, and he located his curveball really well, kept it down in the zone.”

Fortier said he lost a bit on his fastball as the game progressed.

“I was kind of gassed going into the late innings,” he said, “but I had no problem with the curveball.”

Falmouth (17-3) won Class C state titles in 1985, 1996 and 1998. Foxcroft is 0 for 3 in Class B title games, having lost in 1980 and 2002, also without scoring a run.

The Yachtsmen won the Western Maine title without benefit of a hit in a 1-0 eight-inning victory over No. 9 Cape Elizabeth in Thursday’s regional final.

Shortstop Will D’Agostino ended that hitless streak with a leadoff single over shortstop in the second inning Saturday. A one-out flare to left by Lydick put two runners on base and, after a strikeout, set the stage for Conley, a junior outfielder.

“He’s a lot better hitter than you would think for a No. 9 hitter,” Lydick said. “He’s come up clutch for us all season.”

Such as a two-run homer in Monday’s 3-0 victory over Morse. Conley had been hitting so well this season, in fact, Winship considered moving him higher in the order.

“But we felt if we just left him in the nine hole,” Winship said, “he’d see a lot of fastballs.”

Indeed, Conley jumped on a fastball from Foxcroft junior Kaleb Smith and lined it toward the corner in left field to score both D’Agostino and Lydick, who had stolen second base, for the game’s only runs.

“It was just the pitch I was looking for,” Conley said. “I put a nice swing on it and got a nice piece of it. Actually, when I saw it drop, I thought it was foul.”

The only other hits Smith allowed were a pair of singles by Falmouth third baseman Nick Spencer, who tossed a four-hit shutout over eight innings Thursday against Cape Elizabeth.

“I felt we had a lot of balls that we hit hard right at people,” said Foxcroft Coach Mark Chevalier. “It just wasn’t our day. One two-out hit to their No. 9 hitter was the difference.”

Ah, but to Conley, nine is fine.

“You see a lot of nice pitches down there,” he said with a grin. “I do tend to get overlooked.”

Not any more.

Staff Writer Glenn Jordan can be contacted at 791-6425 or at:

gjordan@pressherald.com

Twitter: GlennJordanPPH

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