BOX SCORE 

Freeport 2 Greely 1 

F- 200 000 0- 2 2 1
G- 000 001 0- 1 4 4

Top 1st
Roy walked, Shea scored. Abbott walked, von Glinsky-Gregoire scored.

Bottom 6th
Williams scored on wild pitch.

Multiple hits:
F- Cockburn
G- Axelsen

Runs:
F- Shea, von Glinsky-Gregoire
G- Williams

RBI:
F- Abbott, Thomas

Double:
F- Cockburn

Triple:
G- Axelsen

Stolen base:
F- von Glinsky-Gregoire

Left on base:
F- 6
G- 10

Cockburn, Wing (6) and von Glinsky-Gregoire; Kolben, Axelsen (7) and Soucie, Kolben (7).

F:
Cockburn (W, 9-0) 5.2 IP 3 H 1 R 1 ER 5 BB 7 K 2 WP 1 Balk 1 HBP
Wing (Save) 1.1 IP 1 H 0 R 0 BB 0 K 1 HBP

G:
Kolben (L, 6-2) 6.2 IP 2 H 2 R 0 ER 5 BB 13 K 1 WP 1 HBP
Axelsen 0.1 IP 0 H 0 R 0 BB 0 K

Time: 2:02

GORHAM—Just call them the boys of June.

Freeport’s baseball team, regardless of what happens in April and May, is simply magical when the calendar flips and Tuesday afternoon, in front of a more than capacity crowd at Ed Flaherty Field on the campus of the University of Southern Maine, the Falcons managed just two hits but found a way to beat the powerful Greely Rangers in the Class B South Final.

Again.

And in the process, punched their ticket back to the state final.

Freeport scored twice in the top of the first without benefit of a hit, as senior second baseman Keigan Shea was hit by a pitch and after a couple errors, Greely senior pitcher Ryan Kolben, who no-hit the Falcons earlier this season, walked both sophomore third baseman Thomas Roy and senior centerfielder Nathan Abbott with the bases loaded. Kolben then avoided further damage by striking out the side, but Freeport had a lead it wouldn’t relinquish.

Falcons senior ace Blaine Cockburn, who didn’t pitch against the Rangers in the teams’ two regular season meetings, then gutted his way through five shutout innings, but in the bottom of the sixth, Cockburn ran out of gas and pitches, walking three and throwing a wild pitch to put Greely on the board.

After hitting the pitch limit, Cockburn gave way to senior Gus Wing, who escaped further damage, then left two Rangers on base in the seventh, getting senior rightfielder Zach Johnston to fly out to end it as Freeport held on for a 2-1 victory.

The Falcons improved to 16-4, ended Greely’s fine season at 18-2 and advanced to face Ellsworth (18-1) in the Class B state final Saturday at 4:30 p.m., at USM.

“We designed our whole season basically to win this game,” said Freeport coach Steve Shukie. “We felt like the pressure was on (Greely). They’d had a great season and had pounded teams. We just wanted to play loose and we did that.”

Little room for error

Greely’s pitching has been exceptional from Opening Day this season, when Johnston no-hit Fryeburg Academy. The Rangers would win 15 of 16 contests (see sidebar for links to previous stories), losing only to Yarmouth, as Johnston and Kolben alternated gems.

Greely outscored its first three playoff foes, 22-2, blanking No. 16 Lincoln Academy (8-0) in the preliminary round, handling No. 8 Medomak Valley (12-2, in six-innings) in the quarterfinals, then shutting out No. 5 Cape Elizabeth (2-0) in Saturday’s semifinal round.

Freeport, meanwhile, began the year 9-1, but went just 3-3 down the stretch, twice losing decisively to Greely.

The Falcons returned to their winning ways when the playoffs commenced, however, surviving No. 14 Gray-New Gloucester in eight-innings (2-1) in the preliminary round, before shutting out No. 6 York (3-0) in the quarterfinals and No. 15 Lake Region (5-0) in the semifinals.

On May 18, Kolben no-hit visiting Freeport in an 11-0 (five-inning) triumph. Johnston then blanked the host Falcons, 10-0, in the regular season finale May 31. Cockburn didn’t pitch either game.

“If we’d had a chance to win one of those games, he would have come in, but we didn’t play defense those games and we got down and we decided to save him for other games,” Shukie said.

The teams had met four previous times in the playoffs.

Greely prevailed, 1-0, in the 2004 Western B preliminary round, but Freeport won, 1-0, in the 2016 Class B South semifinals, doubled up the host Rangers, 4-2, in the 2019 Class B South semifinals and a year ago, in the regional final at St. Joseph’s College in Standish, rode Cockburn’s arm and then-junior Kempton von Glinsky-Gregoire’s bat to a 4-1 victory.

Tuesday, on a most pleasant afternoon (77 degrees at first pitch), the Falcons got to Kolben early, then did just enough to hold on and break Greely’s heart once more.

The Falcons started fast, with a little help, in the top of the first.

Kolben hit Shea leading off, then tried to pick him off first, but threw wildly for an error, allowing Shea to take second. Von Glinsky-Gregoire, the catcher, then grounded wide of first, where junior first baseman Mason Kelso fielded the ball, but Kolben, covering, couldn’t handle the throw for another error, putting runners at the corners.

Cockburn then drew a walk on four pitches to load the bases for Roy, who also walked on four pitches to score Shea.

Abbott was next and got ahead 3-1 before Kolben missed again for another walk and von Glinsky Gregoire came home with the second run.

“I was thinking he’d been wild, so I was looking to protect and hit a pitch down the middle and anything else I let go by,” Abbott said. “He didn’t throw me anything, so I did what I had to do and got on.”

Kolben then settled in, catching senior first baseman Robert Landry looking at strike, before fanning senior leftfielder Colin Cronin and Wing, who began the game in rightfield, to limit the damage and keep the score 2-0.

“We got through bases loaded with no outs and two runs (down) felt like, with our lineup, it was manageable,” said longtime Greely coach Derek Soule. “In terms of command, (Ryan) had 70 strikeouts and seven walks coming in, so that was unusual for him. He locked in and that was the guy we’ve seen all year. He worked through it and kept us in the game.”

The Rangers had a chance to answer in the bottom of the inning, but left two runners on.

Cocburn got senior shortstop Max Cloutier to ground out to second leading off, then caught sophomore third baseman Marky Axelsen looking at strike three. Kolben then walked on four pitches and senior designated hitter Brooks Williams singled through the hole between short and third, but Johnston was caught looking on an off-speed pitch to end the threat.

Kolben started the top of the second by striking out junior shortstop Zane Aguiar. Shea then drew a walk, but with von Glinsky-Gregoire at the plate, Shea was thrown out stealing by Greely freshman catcher Wyatt Soucie, then Kolben caught von Glinsky-Gregoire looking at strike three.

In the bottom half, Kelso fell behind 1-2, then worked the count full and bounced out to short. Soucie was next and he drew a four-pitch walk. Sophomore leftfielder Sam Almy followed with a grounder up the middle that might have resulted in a double play, but Cockburn got his glove on it and while Aguiar was able to field the ball and throw to second for the force out, the inning continued. Sophomore Jackson Leding had a chance to put Greely on the board, but he struck out swinging.

Freeport had a great opportunity to add to its lead in the top of third, but couldn’t do so.

Cockburn led off by lacing a double the other way, down the leftfield line.

“I love hitting against Ryan,” said Cockburn. “I saw his fastball well today. I was just seeing and adapting.”

Kolben struck out Roy, but with Abbott at the plate, Kolben again threw wildly on a pickoff attempt and Cockburn moved to third. Abbott then walked and raced to second when he caught the defense napping, bringing up Landry and the Falcons tried to squeeze home a run, but the bunt was popped up and Cloutier made a nice catch, then strolled over to touch third to complete the pivotal double play.

The Rangers then had another frustrating frame in the bottom half.

Cloutier led off with a bloop single to right. Axselsen grounded into second-to-short force out and Kolben flew out to right, but with Williams at the plate, a Cockburn balk moved Axelsen to second and he got to third, as Williams reached on an error by Aguiar at short. That brought up Johnston and Cockburn struck him out again, this time swinging, for the third out.

Kolben made quick work of the Falcons in the top of the fourth, getting Cronin to ground out sharply to second on the first pitch, catching Wing looking at a fastball on the inside corner on a 3-2 pitch and getting Aguiar to chase strike three.

In the bottom half, Kelso led off and fell behind in the count, 0-2, before working it full and taking a beautiful breaking pitch for strike three.

“My curveball was spinning like it’s been spinning all year,” Cockburn said. “I added the change-up as well. They didn’t see too many of those from me last year. That was a huge difference in this game.”

Soucie then got plunked with an 0-1 pitch, but Roy made a tremendous defensive play at third, snagging Almy’s line drive, then doubling off Soucie at first.

In the top of the fifth, Shea led off and grounded out on a bang-bang play, as Axelsen threw him out with Kelso making a nice scoop. After von Glinsky-Gregoire flew out to center, Cockburn again went the other way, lining a single into left to extend the inning. Kolben then ended it by getting Roy to chase a high fastball for strike three.

Greely left another runner in scoring position in the bottom half.

Cockburn got Leding to swing and miss at a 3-2 pitch leading off, then fanned Cloutier on three pitches, but after Axelsen thought he’d been brushed by the first pitch he saw, but was told to stay in the box, he lined a triple down the righfield line. Kolben had a chance to cut the deficit in half, but his grounder to the hole was fielded by Aguiar, who threw strongly across to first to retire the side and send the game to the top of the sixth.

Kolben struck out Abbott swinging leading off, but strike three got away and Abbott barely beat Soucie’s throw to first. Landry sacrificed Abbott to second, but then Cronin reached on a grounder to short, which Cloutier couldn’t handle, putting runners at the corners. Freshman Ben Bolduc came up to hit for Wing and after Cronin was picked off and thrown out at second, Bolduc struck out and this time, when the ball got away, Soucie made the throw to first in time to retire the side.

The Rangers finally got their offense going in the bottom of the sixth.

Williams drew a walk leading off and after Johnston popped out to short, Kelso fell behind 0-2, then battled back to draw a walk. Soucie then worked the count full before grounding into a third-to-second force out, barely beating the throw to first to avoid the double play. That brought up Almy as the last batter Cockburn would face (due to the pitch count) and he drew a walk with ball four getting away from von Glinsky-Gregoire to score Williams.

Wing came on to replace Cockburn and Soule sent up sophomore Ethan Robeck as a pinch-hitter. Robeck took a ball, then a strike, then bounced out to second and Freeport clung to a 2-1 lead heading to the top of the seventh.

“A lot of nerves were going through me,” Wing said. “I knew I just had to throw strikes with a good defense behind me. I was hoping they’d swing and hit either a ground ball or a pop-up. I just worked the inside and outside corners and threw my slider. I had to go in there with confidence. If I didn’t have confidence, it could have gone the other way.”

In the top of the seventh, Kolben did his part, fanning both junior pinch-hitter Gus Hollen swinging and Shea looking, but that ate up his pitch count, ending his time on the mound. Axelsen then came in to record the final out, getting von Glinsky-Gregoire to ground sharply back to the mound.

That set the stage for the dramatic bottom of the seventh.

Cloutier led off and hit a 2-2 pitch hard, but it was right at Cockburn, who had taken over in centerfield, for the first out. Axelsen then lined a sharp single up the middle to put the tying run on. Wing then hit Kolben with a pitch and the Rangers were one hit away from tying, or perhaps winning, the game.

But it wasn’t to be, as Wing got Williams to swing at the first pitch and fly out deep to right-center, where Abbott, who had moved over to rightfield, made the catch.

That left the game up to Johnston and he too ripped the first pitch and he hit it well, but in that giant ballpark, it never had a chance and Cockburn sized up the ball, waved his free hand in excitement and anticipation before catching it for the final out.

“I had a moment when I was looking up at that ball and I soaked it all in,” said Cockburn. “That was the first moment I realized we’re going back to states.”

“I was just watching Blaine and I saw him with the biggest smile and it was awesome,” Abbott said. “I know Gus pitches to contact. I knew with our outfield, we’d get it done and catch the ball.”

“I was nervous off the bat, but I saw him give a wave and man, it was a pretty good feeling,” Wing said.

At 5:02 p.m., Freeport rushed the field to celebrate the win.

“I know a lot of people second-guessed us considering the first couple games we played (Greely), but I was confident knowing we had Blaine on the mound,” Abbott said. “The team atmosphere and the team energy has changed so much in the playoffs. I knew we’d come out with a fire they hadn’t seen yet. We were ready and did what we needed to.”

“We came in confident, not only because I was on the bump, but we saw Ryan our first game against them,” Cockburn said.

“It’s deja vu,” Shukie added. “Different field, but the same feeling. It wasn’t easy. We felt good with a two-run lead the way (Blaine’s) pitched this year, but their lineup is just a bear. They made him work and got his pitch count up. We recorded the outs and made the plays when we had to. With this field’s dimensions, even with that lineup, we just wanted to throw strikes because we have guys who can cover some ground. It’s very forgiving here.”

Cockburn won his ninth game of the season without a loss, giving up one run on three hits in 5.2 innings. He walked five and struck out seven.

“Blaine’s a good pitcher,” Soule said. “He changes pitches well. (Not pitching him against us earlier) worked out for them. It does make a difference not seeing him.”

Wing earned the save, giving up one hit in 1.1 shutout innings of relief.

“I would rather have me and Gus do this then just me,” Cockburn said. “When I was jogging off the mound and I saw ‘G-Bone’ running to the mound, I was 100 percent sure he had the rest of his game in his pocket.”

“Gus Wing is a kid who really cares about this team,” Shukie said. “He’s done a great job in his role. He walked in the winning run against these guys in a tough loss to Greely last year, so to see him come out here and get those outs, I feel great for him. He’s worked his tail off to have good control.”

Offensively, Cockburn had both hits, Shea and von Glinsky-Gregoire scored the runs and Abbott and Roy each had an RBI.

The Falcons left six runners on.

Bitter pill

Greely left 10 runners on base.

Kolben took the loss, giving up two unearned runs on two hits in 6.2 innings. He walked five, but struck out 13.

“Ryan’s pitched unbelievably well for us,” Soule said. “In two games against (Freeport), he only allowed four hits. We just needed to stop the bleeding in the first inning a little sooner. We had our opportunities, but couldn’t get that key hit. I’m very proud of the way we recovered after a tough start. We had some key moments with key guys up to bat and just missed. Even at the end, Zach gave that ball a pretty good ride.”

Axelsen retired the only batter he faced in relief.

The Rangers had the look of a state champion since the get-go this spring, but ultimately fell just short.

“When I think about this team, we outscored our opponents, 170 to 21,” Soule said. “This is one of the most dominant teams in school history. Probably in Class B history when you look at it statistically. We set a school record with 54 consecutive shutout innings, which is top five in the national record books. We had seven consecutive shutouts at one point, Throwing strikes and playing defense has been our strength all year, but we had a heck of a lineup too.”

Compounding the hurt of Tuesday’s result, Greely will have to say goodbye to a stellar senior class, which includes most of this year’s innings pitched in Johnston and Kolben, as well as other standouts like Cloutier and Williams.

“Greely has no reason to hang their heads, because they’re going to remain dominant,” Cockburn said.

“There’s no replacing our seniors,” Soule said. “We have a strong junior varsity team and a very strong feeder program. The program’s still going to be really strong, but it’s impossible to replace those kids.”

One more for the trophy

Freeport and Ellsworth met in the 2019 Class B state final, a game the Falcons lost, 2-0. Freeport was also beaten in the state game by Old Town in 2016 (12-2, in five-innings) and again last spring (7-3).

This time around, the Falcons, especially their seniors, won’t be satisfied with anything short of finishing the job.

“We just have to keep believing,” Cockburn said. “That’s been our thing my whole high school career. The group of kids we have is special. We have to be due.”

“We just have to keep doing what we’ve been doing,” Wing said. “Keep a positive attitude. Go out and play some ball.”

“We just have to stay focused,” Abbott said. “We have to come out with the same energy and concentration we had this game. We can’t take anything for granted.”

“We’re trying not to become the Buffalo Bills of Maine baseball,” added Shukie, alluding to the four-time Super Bowl losers. “The seniors have never not been to states. I don’t think Blaine will able to pitch, but Nathan has been lights-out this postseason and we’ll go to him again. We’ve got Gus available and Zane Aguiar available. We need to get the bats going.”

Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @foresports.

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