WESTBROOK — Cumberland/North Yarmouth claimed the District 6 Little League Baseball championship in the 11-12-year-old division Monday evening, beating Portland 6-4 to complete its climb out of the losers’ bracket.
Cumberland/North Yarmouth advances to the state tournament, which begins Saturday in Lewiston.
Portland battled back from a 4-0 deficit to tie the game in the fourth inning, but Cumberland/North Yarmouth responded quickly with two runs in the fifth.
Many of the Cumberland/North Yarmouth players were on the team that won the 10-11 division District 6 championship last year.
“Our guys didn’t play their best game, but they battled,” said Cumberland/North Yarmouth Coach Mark Piesik. “It’s a unique (experience), two championships in a row. We just have a lot of great athletes, a lot of multisport athletes, so that just gets us there.”
The game was scoreless through three innings.
In the second inning, Portland first baseman Will Jordan made a diving catch on a line drive down the first-base line. After making the grab, he stepped on first base to double up a runner for the third out.
In the third, Jordan combined with second baseman Jacob Tidd for another inning-ending double play. With runners on first and second, Tidd speared a hard line drive and threw to Jordan to get his team out of a jam.
Cumberland/North Yarmouth broke through in the top of the fourth, however. First baseman Andrew Padgett drove in Liam Coull and Wyatt Soucie with a single up the middle. Two more runs scored on a passed ball and an error.
Portland responded in the bottom half of the inning. Tavian Lauture drove Alex Jordan with a single to right, then advanced on a passed ball. After Ethan Jason reached on a walk, Lucas Milliken drove in both runners with a single that sneaked through the infield. The next batter, third baseman Abie Waisman, tied the game with a bloop single to center.
Piesik brought in Soucie to relief starting pitcher Keeler Vogt, and Soucie struck out two batters to end the inning.
Soucie doubled home Liam Coull with a drive off the outfield fence in the fifth, and Padgett added an insurance run with his third hit and third RBI of the night.
“I was just trying to get a real level swing and trying to square up on the ball more and getting more of the bat on the ball,” said Padgett. “I don’t overthink it and try to focus.”
Soucie recorded the final six outs to secure the championship.
“(Wyatt is) a very experienced baseball player,” said Piesik. “I think he wanted to get the job done.”
Portland Coach Bob Milliken was proud of his team’s effort.
“I thought we fought the whole game. We had a bunch of chances, but we just didn’t have that big hit,” Coach Milliken said. “(Cumberland/North Yarmouth) is a good, solid team, they make all the plays, and they have strong pitching. But I’m proud of my guys.”
Piesik hopes his team will ride their momentum into the state tournament.
“We played well last year, so we’re going to be confident, and we’re just going to come out swinging.”
UPDATE: This file was corrected on July 16 at 11:53 a.m. to note that Alex Jordan scored Portland’s first run.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.