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GORHAM — Miles Brenner has heard doubters, naysayers and, most recently, even the haters. He hears it, puts it aside, and then does the work to prove them wrong.

And now he and his Gorham High teammates are one win away from a Class A baseball championship. A senior shortstop/pitcher, Brenner is hitting .313 with 16 runs and 25 RBI and is 6-0 as a pitcher with a 0.59 ERA and 39 strikeouts, with only eight walks over 35 1/3 innings.

“This feels nice, but we’re not done yet,” Brenner said after the Rams’ 7-2 win over Noble in the Class A South final.

As a freshman, the questions about Brenner came from within the Gorham High baseball community. According to Gorham coach Ed Smith, then a varsity assistant, there were many who thought Brenner was too small to be playing on the varsity team, let alone at shortstop, in the competitive Class A South ranks. By midseason, Brenner was starting, and he’s been a constant ever since. This spring, he was named first-team SMAA at short.

This preseason, Brenner said he and his teammates looked at the projections that Gorham would be a good team but not the A South favorite, despite having three high-quality starting pitchers in himself, senior Wyatt Washburn and junior standout Hunter Finck.

Brenner is headed to Wheaton College and will play for one of New England’s best Division III programs. He knew why Gorham’s preseason status wasn’t higher. The Rams failed to live up to expectations in 2025, finishing sixth in the Heal point standings and losing in the South quarterfinals. Plus, several key seniors graduated — including Vanderbilt pitcher Wyatt Nadeau.

“That kind of put a chip on our shoulder,” Brenner said Tuesday, sweaty and smiling after he drove in three runs and saved a few more with some brilliant defense in the win over Noble.

Gorham went 15-1 in the regular season and earned the top seed. The Rams will seek their first Class A title Saturday at Augusta’s Morton Field against North champ Bangor. Gorham’s last championship came in Class B in 2005.

Last week, Gorham was on the verge of another quarterfinal loss. The Rams trailed 6-0 at home against No. 8 Falmouth, but they got a reprieve from a thunderstorm that prevented the game from being complete. Maine Principals’ Association rules mandate that uncompleted playoff games restart from the beginning, so the teams played again the next day.

Brenner said he and his Gorham teammates have seen the social media taunts. “We’re getting haters like NBA players,” Brenner said.

It isn’t Brenner’s fault the rule exists. But he is a big reason why the Rams have taken advantage of their playoff restart.

He took the hill in the makeup game the next day at The Ballpark in Old Orchard Beach and immediately struck out the side in the first inning to send a message. By game’s end, he’d shut out Falmouth, 3-0, allowing five hits and one walk while striking out seven.

Brenner, hitting in the cleanup spot, was held in check in the Rams’ first two playoff wins, though he had a single to help set up a run in the sixth inning against Falmouth and a sacrifice fly to drive in the second run in a 4-3 semifinal win against No. 4 Thornton Academy the following day.

That changed Tuesday against Noble. His first-inning double down the third-base line plated the first two runs of the game, giving starting pitcher Finck a quick cushion. Brenner scored after reaching on a fielder’s choice in the two-run third inning. Then in the sixth — after Finck was intentionally walked to load the bases — Brenner reached down and pulled an off-speed pitch into left field to drive in the first of three insurance runs.

In the field, he made three stellar plays. In the third inning with a Noble runner on via an outfield error and no outs, Brenner ranged far to his left and took a hit away with a diving stop of a hard grounder and quick flip to second for a forceout. Brenner ended the inning with a hard charge on a chopper and a strong accurate throw, a move he duplicated to end the fifth inning.

“It’s to a point now where (media) ask about the plays that he makes and it doesn’t surprise me at all. I see it every day. Every day for four years,” Smith said.

Smith said Tuesday night he was unsure who would be the starting pitcher Saturday, but he’s very happy to have both of his seniors — Brenner and Washburn — available and well rested. If it’s Brenner on the mound, then he’ll get a strike thrower he can depend on. If Washburn pitches, he knows he has Brenner behind him to turn a couple would-be hits into outs.

“At short, no ball gets past him. Hitting? A great hitter. When you meet him in person, he’s a great person,” Washburn said.

Either way, there’s little doubt Brenner will be in the middle of the action.