GORHAM — Erik Swenson was dealing. All the Scarborough junior needed was some support.

After a few innings, the Red Storm batters were happy to oblige.

Swenson pitched a complete- game shutout, Scarborough came alive at the plate after three scoreless frames, and the top-seeded Red Storm took down No. 2 Falmouth 5-0 in the Class A South baseball final for its first regional championship since 2019.

Scarborough (18-1) will vie for its third Class A title when it faces North champion Messalonskee at 1 p.m. Saturday in Augusta. Falmouth finished 15-4.

“We’ve been working for it all season, putting the time in at practice, working with the coaches, working outside of practice,” Swenson said. “It feels great to be able to play up to the moment, and get it done when you needed to.”

Scarborough took the lead on an error in the fourth. Patrick McCue and Matthew Fallona then had RBI singles in the fifth, and Tyler Archambault added two more with a single in the sixth.

“It’s a testament to the kids,” Scarborough Coach Wes Ridlon said. “They’ve believed since day one where we’d be.”

Swenson’s day didn’t begin as auspiciously as his final line suggested. He needed 26 pitches to get through the first, going to full counts on all four batters, and needed a running catch on a deep fly from left fielder McCue to escape unscathed.

From there, however, theMaine-bound right-hander rolled. He needed 105 pitches to finish the shutout, and finished with two hits allowed and four strikeouts. Scarborough played excellent defense behind him, making no errors until a wild throw with two outs in the seventh.

“I struggled to find the zone a little bit, and I would attest that to nerves, but as soon as I got through the inning, I came to the bench and I calmed down,” he said. “(I was) taking my time on the mound. The coaches say to slow the game down, you don’t want it to speed up on you.”

Ridlon went to the mound in the first inning and told his star to focus on competing to put hitters away.

“He’s our leader, he’s our ace,” Ridlon said. “We feel anytime he’s on the mound, we’re going to be in a baseball game.”

There was just the matter of giving him runs to work with, and after Falmouth pitchers Nick Wyse and Tyler Simmons held Scarborough hitless for three innings, the Storm began to break through. They took the lead in the fourth when Fallona reached on an infield single, and eventually stole third and scored when the throw went into left field.

Scarborough rallied with two outs in the fifth, as Zak Sanders doubled down the left-field line, Mason Porter was intentionally walked and McCue drilled a full-count pitch to right for a single.

The Scarborough bench watches with anticipation with one out remaining in the Class A South final. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer

“All year, we’ve made the most of our chances,” McCue said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s no outs, one out, two outs, we execute, put our bat on the ball and make our way around the bases.”

Fallona followed with a single to center, bringing in Porter to make it 3-0.

“We just stuck to the fundamentals. We knew we were going to get to them eventually,” Fallona said. “I was just happy I could do it for (Swenson). … He’s the best pitcher in the state.”

Scarborough got insurance in the sixth when Kaiden Carrell (fielder’s choice) and Finn Coburn (double) reached and came in on Archambault’s single up the middle.

It was too much to overcome for Falmouth, which was dealt a tough blow when top pitcher Brennan Rumpf suffered a freak injury to his hand and was unable to start on the mound. He played as the designated hitter, but the Navigators collectively couldn’t break through at the plate. Jacoby Porter and Thomas Healy had the Falmouth hits.

“That team played better than us, flat-out played better. Didn’t make any errors and we made errors,” Coach Mike D’Andrea said. “They’ve proven it all year long, they’re the best team in the state.”