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GORHAM — After a 1-2-3 first inning, Gorham High junior pitcher Hunter Finck skipped off the mound at Ed Flaherty Field on his way to the dugout.

A little more than two hours later, Finck and top-seeded Gorham (18-1) were jumping up and down, celebrating its first regional title since 2018 with a 7-2 victory Tuesday against No. 10 Noble (10-9-1) at the University of Southern Maine.

Gorham’s last state title was in 2005 when it beat Mt. Desert Island to win Class B. The Rams will face Bangor at 1 p.m. Saturday at Morton Field in Augusta. Bangor defeated Oxford Hills 5-2 in the North final.

Backed by the standout defense of senior shortstop Miles Brenner and leaning on his breaking pitches, Finck cruised through five scoreless innings and had a 4-0 lead.

“I just wanted to pound the zone and let my defense work,” Finck said.

But in the sixth inning, the junior righty and University of Alabama commit walked three and gave up a bloop single to shallow left, allowing two runs.

Gorham’s offense made it easier for Finck to close out the win by scoring three runs in the bottom of the sixth, via five singles. After singles by Sawyer Smith and Cooper Whitehead (2 for 3), Noble chose to intentionally walk Finck, who was 2 for 3 with a double. Finck hit .539 in the regular season while winning the SMAA MVP and Maine Gatorade Player of the Year honors.

That brought up Brenner, with two outs.

“Ever since last year, when we were the top seed and lost in the quarterfinals, we’ve had a chip on our shoulder. When they walked Hunter intentionally, that was just a bigger chip,” Brenner said.

Brenner lined a single to left to score one run, Preston Brown (2 for 4) followed with another RBI single, and Finck scored on a wild pitch.

Finck finished off the game in the seventh, getting the third out on his 98th pitch. That eliminates him from pitching Saturday (over 95 pitches requires four days rest), but the complete game effort means both Brenner, who shut out Falmouth on Friday, and Wyatt Washburn, who beat Thornton in the semifinals, will be fully rested.

“It’s going to be a battle, so the more options you have as a coach, the better off you’re going to be,” said Gorham coach Ed Smith.

Noble had already knocked off three higher-seeded teams, including No. 2 South Portland and No. 3 Cheverus.

“It’s disappointing that we couldn’t finish things off today, but what we did this year is pretty incredible and really sets up this program for the future,” said Noble first baseman Carl Gregoire, one of two seniors in the Knights’ starting lineup.

Gorham opened the scoring with two runs in the first, benefitting from three walks by Noble sophomore starting pitcher Sean Sullivan and a two-run double by Brenner that hugged the third-base line.

The Rams made it 4-0 in the third against reliever Wesley Turnbull on suicide squeeze bunts by Sawyer Smith and Duante Cresta. Turnbull was a workhorse for Noble. Prior to being touched for three runs in the sixth inning, he had thrown 15 1/3 innings in the playoffs, with four runs allowed and a pair of wins.