AUGUSTA – The season-long motto for the Westbrook baseball team has been a simple, one-word phrase: Believe. It was fitting, then, that the Blue Blazes were forced to do just that early in the final game of the their memorable 2005 season.

Attempting to win their first Class A state title since 1951, the Blazes made two errors in the first inning to fall behind Oxford Hills by three runs. Starting pitcher Jordan Purington walked four, hit a batter and gave up one hit before being lifted for Andrew Keirstead.

It wasn’t the start the Blue Blazes were looking for, but it wasn’t all that surprising considering they hadn’t played in nearly a week because of rain – the rust had time to accumulate. Now it was time to start believing.

Over the next five innings, Westbrook scratched and clawed their way back into the game, pulling to within a run at one point, but the five-run first proved to be too much to overcome. The Blazes (16-2) lost, 9-4, and will now be forced to wait at least one more year before winning another state crown. For the Vikings (17-3), it was their first-ever title.

“I’m proud of my kids. We had a great season, and we exceeded all expectations. I don’t think at the beginning of the season anyone thought we’d be in this game,” said Westbrook coach John Eisenhart, whose team beat Portland 13-3 to advance to the championship game. “Our kids came out of a very difficult league with great teams and they came out on top, and I was proud of my kids today.”

The Blazes actually took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first, when Keirstead hit his seventh homer of the year over the right-centerfield fence 380 feet away. Andrew Kinslow, who began the game with a walk, came around to score on the bomb.

If the Vikings were intimidated by the offensive outburst or the fact that teams from the West have won seven straight Class A titles, they didn’t let on.

Kyle Keniston started the Oxford rally by reaching on a fielder’s choice. Kelvin DeCato followed with a walk, then Matt McDonnell reached on an error by shortstop Jack Beliveau. Chris Roy knocked in a run with a misplayed grounder to first, and Ben Ryerson followed with a two-run single to left. The Vikings got it to 5-2, when Purington walked both Corey Saunders and Chris Jennings with the bases loaded.

“We just didn’t make the plays early on in the game when we needed to and really that turned out to be the difference in the game,” said Eisenhart. “We make a couple plays behind Jordan there and he probably gets out of that inning.”

The key for the Vikings was Jennings, who settled down after the first. He kept the Blue Blazes guessing with a combination of slow curves and perfectly-placed fastballs. Westbrook managed just four hits off Jennings after the two-run first inning.

“Give him credit. He did a good job keeping us off-balance,” Eisenhart said. We’re a great fastball hitting team, and he did a good job, he really did a good job, so you’ve got to tip your hat to him.”

With the kind of effectiveness that Jennings demonstrated, Oxford Hills didn’t need much more offense than what they already had, but they got some insurance regardless. Keirstead shut the Vikings down for two innings after coming in for Purington, but he allowed back-to-back doubles in the bottom of the fourth, which made the score 6-4. The Vikings then got three more runs on five hits in the bottom of the sixth.

“We came into this game mentally prepared, and we just didn’t do it out on the field,” said Keirstead, a senior who will attend Bridgton Academy next year. “We made some stupid errors in the second inning and walked some kids.

“It was just hard being down so far. We got a couple runs and everyone started to get into it a little bit, but I don’t know … giving up five runs in the first inning is hard.”