MONMOUTH — After splitting two playoff confrontations the last two years, Monmouth Academy and Sacopee Valley met again Saturday in the Class C South semifinals. And it was a classic.

Brady Anderson’s single with two outs in the top of the ninth inning drove in the winning run, and Sacopee Valley pitcher Roderick Maynard escaped a bases-loaded jam in the bottom half to give the fourth-seeded Hawks a 3-2 win over top-seeded and previously unbeaten Monmouth.

Anderson had three hits and a walk, and drove in the game’s first run with a double in the fifth inning, finally breaking the ice after both teams squandered good scoring chances.

Anderson drove in the winning run against Monmouth pitcher Hunter Richardson after an error and a two-out walk to D.J. Shea put runners at first and second. Down 0-1 in the count, he ripped a single to right field to easily drive home Cam Cyr.

“The three times before that, I got a few good cuts off him,” said Anderson, who doubled, singled and walked in his previous plate appearances. “I knew then all I needed to do was get a base hit to knock in the run, so I wanted to shorten up, get a ball to the outfield and hope for the best.”

Monmouth (17-1) got back-to-back singles from Travis Hartford and Mat Foulke with one out in the bottom of the ninth. Devon Poisson sacrificed them to second and third and brought up the top of the Mustangs’ order – Gage Cote.

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After reaching a 1-1 count, the Hawks elected to intentionally walk Cote. The next hitter, Nick Dovinsky, grounded out to end the game.

Maynard struck out 17, walked two, hit a batter and allowed eight hits in 138 pitches. Richardson went 82/3 innings and allowed one earned run, seven hits, four walks and a hit batsman. He did not have a strikeout.

“We pressed last year when we played these guys and even against Traip (in the quarterfinals) we were pressing, myself included,” Sacopee Valley Coach Eric Anderson said. “We had a very relaxed practice (Friday), and the kids came here today and seemed to be relaxed. They were hitting the ball hard, it was just at people. I thought it would be just a matter of time before we broke through.”

Monmouth tied the game 2-2 in the sixth on RBI singles by Richardson and Chandler Harris.

Sacopee (15-3) will face sixth-seeded Lisbon in the regional final at 3 p.m. Tuesday at St. Joseph’s College.

FREEPORT 1, GREELY 0: Jack Davenport singled home Max Doughty for the only run as seventh-seeded Freeport (13-6) upset No. 3 Greely (12-5-1) in a Class B South semifinal in Cumberland.

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Doughty was hit by a pitch and stole second before Davenport singled with two outs in the third.

Joshua Burke shut out Greely over the first five innings, striking out two and walking two while giving up a pair of singles. Austin Langley pitched a perfect sixth and Josh Spaulding recorded the last three outs after hitting the leadoff batter in the seventh.

Caleb Normandeau struck out 12 while allowing no walks and five hits for Greely, which was seeking a third straight state championship.

CAPE ELIZABETH 7, MARANACOOK 1: Nate Ingalls threw a five-hitter to lead the top-seeded Capers (13-5) over the fourth-seeded Black Bears (11-7) in a Class B North semifinal at Cape Elizabeth.

Dylan Roberts was 2 for 4 with an RBI for Cape Elizabeth. Matthew Riggle added a pair of hits.

Mark Buzzell had two hits for Maranacook.

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Cape Elizabeth will play for the regional title against No. 7 Freeport at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at St. Joseph’s College.

LACROSSE

YARMOUTH 16, GARDINER 0: Andrew Beatty had three goals and three assists as the third-seeded Clippers (10-4) rolled past the 10th-seeded Tigers (7-8) in a Class B North semifinal at Yarmouth.

Matthew Beatty finished with two goals and six assists, and Patrick Grant also scored twice.

Yarmouth will host the regional final Wednesday against fifth-seeded Maranacook/Winthrop.

CAPE ELIZABETH 15, WAYNFLETE 8: R.J. Sarka’s five goals paced the top-ranked Capers (13-0) to a Class B South semifinal victory over No. 4 Waynflete (9-5) in Cape Elizabeth.

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Connor Thoreck finished with four goals and an assist for the Capers, while Perkins and Owen Thoreck each had a goal and an assist. Hans Croft and David Hare also scored, and Alex Navarez and Drew Mitchell combined for 10 saves.

Cooper Chap scored three goals for the Flyers, Will Nelligan tallied twice, and Miles Lipton, Hank Duvall and Will Lewis got one apiece.

WINDHAM 15, MESSALONSKEE 11: Jacob Dionne made 25 saves and Zach Hough scored five goals as sixth-seeded Windham (10-4) beat No. 2 Messalonskee (10-4) in a Class A North semifinal in Waterville.

Windham also got three goals and three assists from Zach Callahan.

Austin Pelletier, Dylan Jones and Connor Smith scored three goals apiece for Messalonskee.


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