SACO — The hits kept on coming for the Saco Little League 10-and-11-year-old All Stars, as they repeated a 13-run performance from the night before to beat Dirigo 13-1 in four innings to win the 10-and-11-year-old state title at Saco Little League Field on Tuesday.

“I walked into it just thinking let’s just do what we did yesterday,” said Saco manager Shawn Gaudette.

Saco hit the ground running yet again against Dirigo, as Grant Dow opened the game with a double down the third base line.

“I like getting the momentum going, and I just try hitting the ball,” said Dow.

Ben Ham then tripled to right to drive in Grant, and three batters later, Ham came home on a single by Patrick Sawyer.

Ham pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the first, then was buoyed in the top of the second by a long rally from his offense. Ryan Penney led off the second with a single to left and scored on a sacrifice fly by Hayden Lehigh. Dow then followed with a two-run home run well over the fence in left ”“ his third home run in two days. Calvin Christoforo had a two-run single and Sawyer hit a two-run home run to deep center to put Saco up 9-0. Lehigh hit a two-run single later in the inning after an error kept the inning going.

“They knew they had to swing the bat. They put it up, they put it up quick,” said Gaudette. “Our batting was dominant.”

More Dirigo errors led to another Saco run in the top of the third. After Ham struck out leading off, Kobe Gaudette hit an infield single to second. Gaudette then moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on an error by second baseman Kai Rabideau ”“ who had earlier been knocked out as Dirigo’s starting pitcher. Two more errors led to Saco loading the bases with two outs, but Ethan Tsomides flew out to center to end the inning.

The lone Saco mistake in the game led to the lone Dirigo run in the third inning. Rabideau led off by popping up to the left of the mound, but Ham and third baseman Penney both went for the catch and neither was successful. Ham struck out Nick Howard, but then walked Seth Reed on a 3-2 pitch. Caden Turcotte followed with the only Dirigo hit of the game, and Rabideau scored when Dow mishandled the roller in center. Ham then got out of the inning by getting a fly out and a groundout back to him.

Saco added another run in the fourth, as Austin Morin led off with a walk and scored on a sacrifice groundout by Ham, but it was just icing on the cake.

Ham pitched another 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the fourth, striking out Jacob Kader to end the game.

“He pitched a great game. Another pitcher that is always consistent,” said Gaudette.

Ham ”“ whose brother, Luke pitched a gem the night before ”“ then threw his glove in the air as his teammates ran to him to celebrate a state title on their home field.

“Hard work paid off,” said Saco assistant coach Bryan Christoforo. “They were really dedicated.”

That dedication showed Tuesday morning, as Gaudette said the players got to the field well before game time to start hitting practice. That practice paid off as Saco scored double-digit runs for the fourth time in five tournament games.

The state title was the end of the road for the 10-and-11-year-olds, as there is no regional tournament for the age group. But Gaudette said as the excitement wears down, it will be time for his coaches and players to think about next year, when Saco can look toward following in the footsteps of this year’s 11-and-12-year-old All Stars, who will be playing in the regionals this weekend.

— Staff Writer Wil Kramlich can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 323. Follow him on Twitter @WilTalkSports.