Zack Gardiner pitched a one-hit masterpiece and smacked a walk-off homerun Sunday to push Westbrook’s 12-year-old Little League all-stars past Falmouth, 2-1, at Portland’s Payson Park.

The win is Westbrook’s third of the post-season tournament, and a victory on Wednesday or Saturday would move the team to the district championship game.

The contest was a classic pitching duel between Gardiner and Chris Bowden of Falmouth. Gardiner allowed just one walk and a lone hit through six innings while striking out 11. Bowden scattered six hits and struck out eight in a game that lasted only an hour and 15 minutes.

Falmouth got on the board first in the fourth inning when Bowden helped his own cause by belting a solo homer over the centerfield fence to give his team a short-lived lead.

Westbrook came back in the bottom of the inning to tie the score when Tom Lemay hit a towering fly ball to dead center that hit the top of the fence and bounced back onto the field for a double. Zack Collett followed with a base hit to put runners at the corners. Falmouth then turned in the defensive play of the game by nailing Lemay at the plate on an attempted double steal.

After Collett moved to third on a fielder’s choice, Nick Finocchiaro beat out an infield hit, allowing his teammate to tie the game.

In the top of the sixth Gardiner struck out the side, leaving Bowden, who had three home runs in his previous game against Scarborough, standing on deck.

In the last of the inning, with two outs and two strikes on the batter, Gardiner returned the favor by driving a belt-high fastball high and deep to give Westbrook the victory.

“Once he hit it I knew it was gone,” said teammate Reid Coulombe. “It was magical.”

The local nine began their all-star play by defeating Freeport, 9-0, on July 2. Westbrook starter Sean Murphy picked up the victory as he combined with relievers Joey Royer and Zack Gardiner for 13 strikeouts in the opening game shutout.

Offensively, Lemay led the way with a double and solo homerun. Other repeat hitters for Westbrook were Collett, Gardiner and Nick Finocchiaro.

The following afternoon Westbrook defeated Portland North, 5-0, behind the pitching of Finocchiaro, who pitched a one-hitter and flirted with a perfect game into the fifth inning. Gardiner pitched a hitless sixth to complete the shutout.

Westbrook scored two runs in the second behind singles by Finocchiaro, Mitch Chipman, Murphy and Coulombe. Two more runs came across in the fifth on hits from Lemay, Collett, Gardiner and Joe Royer. Jared Martin knocked in the final run in the sixth with a single.

Today’s game, scheduled for 5:30 at Payson Park, will pit Westbrook against the survivor of the loser’s bracket with two chances to advance to Sunday’s noontime showdown at Bayside to decide who will represent Disctrict 6 in the state tournament.