SOUTH PORTLAND – Coming into the Zone 4 American Legion tournament as the No. 1 seed, Saco & Biddeford Savings of Westbrook might have played like a target on its back.

Instead, they showed why they’d earned that rank to begin with.

The top seed jumped out to an early lead in the tournament championship game Tuesday and never looked back, taking a comfortable 6-2 victory over third-seeded Cumberland on a soggy diamond at Wainwright Fields in South Portland.

The win came on the heels of 8-7 and 8-3 wins over Yarmouth and Andrews Post of Portland in the first two rounds.

The victory sends Westbrook (16-5) into next week’s Maine Legion State Tournament, set to start next week in Old Orchard Beach, while Cumberland (14-7) was sent to face the winner of Wednesday’s losers bracket game between First Title (Cheverus) and Andrews for the zone’s other spot in the tournament.

Westbrook took the lead right away Tuesday, loading the bases with two outs and Keenan Lowe at the plate in the first. The threat looked to be over when Lowe grounded the ball to short, but Cumberland first baseman Jonah Normandeau couldn’t handle Sam Porter’s low throw, allowing two runners to score.

Westbrook then added two runs apiece in the third and fifth innings to open up a 6-1 lead, with Sam Stauble picking up a pair of RBIs.

But the main story of the game was the strong one-two pitching punch from Westbrook’s Ethan Nash and Sean Murphy. Nash kept a Cumberland offense that combined for 29 runs in its first two games of the tournament off balance for 6 2/3 innings, hitting the corners of the strike zone and allowing just two runs.

“He’s looked great,” Westbrook coach Greg Souza said of Nash. “He doesn’t look flashy, he just throws strikes, kind of like Greg Maddux when he was with the Braves – not overpowering, but he hits his spots.”

A junior varsity pitcher during the high school season, getting the call in the zone championship game didn’t fluster Nash a bit.

“I just looked at it as any other game I would play,” Nash said. “I just kept it low, kept them on the ground and let my D do the work.”

Murphy then came in to work the last 2 1/3, not allowing a runner to reach base and striking out five of the seven batters he faced.

The game was a big one for Murphy, who had pitched only two innings all season while recovering from Tommy John surgery. Getting his motion back to normal was the biggest challenge, said Murphy, who has been working on his mechanics with a pitching coach the last two weeks.

“The first batter I was a little nervous because I hadn’t really been back that much the past few years,” he said. “But I calmed down and started going through the motion and it just came back naturally.

Westbrook now moves on to the state tourney, to be held Aug. 1-5 at The Ballpark in Old Orchard Beach. It will face the winner of the York County Zone 5 tournament at 9:30 a.m. on Aug. 1 in the opening game.

Much like on Tuesday, the team’s chances at states will largely come down to how much its bats can support its strong stable of arms.

“I think if we hit and get some runs on the board we’ll be in the run for it,” Murphy said. “Because we definitely have the pitching.”

Ethan Nash of Westbrook allowed only two runs in 6 2/3 innings of work against Cumberland on Tuesday, picking up the win in his team’s 6-2 victory.
Westbrook shortstop Collin Joyce makes a throw over Cumberland’s Ben Shain to complete a 4-6-3 inning-ending double play in the fourth inning.
Westbrook’s Collin Joyce puts a swing on the ball in the second inning of the Zone 4 American Legion tournament championship game.
Westbrook second baseman Zack Bean makes a throw for the first out of the ninth inning.