AUGUSTA — It’s a result that has become less and less surprising over the last three summers, but 12 little leaguers from Saco have once again proved to be the state’s best. After winning state tournaments at the 9-and-10-year-old and 10-and-11-year-old levels, Saco capped off a three-peat with a 14-1, four-inning victory over Portland Bayside to win the 11-and-12-year-old Little League state tournament championship at Linscott Field on Friday.
Saco had to beat Portland Bayside a night earlier to force the deciding game Friday night, and the result was the same. Saco jumped ahead in the first inning on the back of a leadoff hit by Timmy Smith. Smith doubled to open the game, and scored Anthony Bracamonte’s single. Bracamonte then scored three batters later on Michael Bourgault’s fielder’s choice.
“Timmy’s been our leadoff for three seasons in a row, and there’s never been a minute when I’ve ever thought of changing it up,” said Saco manager Todd Duchaine.
Portland Bayside cut the lead in half when Tre Fletcher hit the second pitch he saw for a home run to lead off the bottom of the first. Portland Bayside then loaded the bases with one out against Saco starting pitcher Luke Chessie, but Chessie threw back-to-back strikeouts to end the threat.
“I think he had a little bit of nerves in the first inning. He admitted it,” said Duchaine. “He came in the dugout after the first inning, and he apologized to the team for making it seem so stressful.”
“I shook it off,” said Chessie.
Saco then sent 12 batters to the plate in the top of the second, turning a one-run game into a rout. After Andrew DeGeorge led off with a popup to short, 10 consecutive Saco batters reached base, scoring six runs.
Chessie walked Hayden O’Donnell to lead off the bottom of the second, but was helped out when Bracamonte turned a double play on a Danny Hill grounder, fielding a tough hop by the second base bag before stepping on it and firing to first.
“I knew it was going to happen, because he never really makes an error,” Chessie said of Bracamonte.
Saco scored two more runs in the third on an RBI double by Brogan Searle-Belanger and a wild pitch that scored Chessie. That gave Saco a 10-1 lead and brought it within one run of securing a victory via the 10-run rule.
Chessie struck out the first two batters of the third, but then gave up a walk and a single. Josh Paisley looked like he might drop a single into shallow center, but Bracamonte made a running grab of the shallow pop to end the inning.
“He’s fantastic. He makes plays in practice that you just shake your head (at),” said Duchaine. “He makes it look easy. It’s not, and he just makes it look easy.”
Saco scored four runs in the fourth thanks to two errors and two walks. Bracamonte hit a bases-loaded grounder through the legs of Fletcher at shortstop to drive in two runs, and a Chessie single to right scored two more, putting Saco three outs away from the title.
Chessie took the mound for the fourth with a climbing pitch count, but made quick work of Portland Bayside batters. The first two batters of the inning grounded out to Bourgault at third ”“ with the first out coming after Bourgault bobbled the grounder before recovering to get the out at first ”“ and pinch hitter Grady Black struck out swinging to end the game.
“I wanted to finish the game, because I only had like 15 pitches left,” said Chessie. “It felt good to finish it.”
Saco will now head off to Bristol, Conn. for the New England regional. It’s the second time in three years that this Saco team has advanced to the regional tournament ”“ the team’s run ended after the state tournament last year as there is no regional tournament for the 10-and-11-year-old age group.
“This year we hope to go down there and do what we did when we were 10-year-olds, which is compete, have fun, and represent this state and our community to the best of our ability,” said Duchaine.
“It’s awesome,” said Chessie. “I can’t wait to go to Bristol.”
— Staff Writer Wil Kramlich can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 323. Follow him on Twitter @WilTalkSports.
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