OLD ORCHARD BEACH – Westbrook’s Zach Bean cannoned a grand slam over the left field wall in the top of the third Saturday afternoon to put the Blue Blazes ahead 5-1, and though both teams would continue to score as the game progressed, those four runs would make all the difference, allowing Westbrook to seize victory, and the SMAA championship, by a final of 8-5.

The tourney win gives the Blue Blazes a boost heading into this week’s Class A West playoffs. In the quarterfinals, Westbrook, ranked No. 4 with a regular season record of 13-3, hosts No. 5 Cheverus (10-6) Thursday at 4 p.m. They’ll have plenty of confidence after beating the Hawks, 14-2 and No. 2 in the regular season, in the championship, hours after shutting out the No. 1 team, Scarborough, 4-0, in the day’s first game.

“I’m just proud of these guys,” Westbrook head coach Greg Souza said, after the game, “and now you can talk to them, because they won the game. These guys deserve the credit.”

“They intentionally walked [Derek Bouchard] to get to me,” Bean said. “[Then Marshwood pitcher Zach Quintal] pitched it right down the middle – got to take advantage of it. Good things happen, I guess.”

Westbrook initially struck in the top of the first, Kyle Heath arriving home on a hoppy Keenan Lowe grounder past third, but Marshwood soon evened the score on a grounder past third of their own.

The tally lingered at 1-1 through the second and into the third, when, during Westbrook’s ups, rightfielder Ryan Gilligan meandered onto first on balls. Heath then stepped to the plate and knocked a drive the Hawks’ first baseman couldn’t handle. Heath landed safely on first, pushing Gilligan to second. Lowe flew out to center, but advanced his teammates one base each, and Bouchard loaded the diamond when Marshwood head coach Eric Fernandes walked him intentionally, then swapped pitchers before facing Bean.

Upon showing the fateful pitch to the nearest exit, Bean strolled the bases, relaxed – though his teammates, including the three who’d crossed the plate ahead of him, were nothing if not spirited when he arrived home again, surrounding him and showing their pride with smiles, shouts and helmet slaps.

Bean doesn’t just swing a mean club. He works the mound well, too, and got his chance to do just that when Souza swapped him in for starter Aaron Duncanson midway through the fourth. Duncanson wasn’t in trouble; Marshwood had a runner on first, but so far he’d held the Hawks to two runs only.

“I think they started to know what I was throwing, and get the feel for me,” Duncanson said, “so I think [Coach Souza] didn’t want to let it get out of hand, ‘cause I know they’re a great-hitting team, probably one of the best in the league. And sometimes I’m on, and sometimes I’m a little off. I think I was on for the most part.

“I’m more of a contact pitcher,” he said. “I don’t get many strikeouts, but I try to get groundouts and pop-ups, and that’s my style. But [Marshwood was] ripping the ball pretty well today; some of them were laying in the gaps and some of them were hit to players.”

“I was a little all over the place when I first came in,” Bean said of the transition. “Seemed to settle down a little bit. [It’s] definitely hot out there. [I was] trying to work quick.”

The Blazes wouldn’t score again in the third, but they’d opened the lead they needed to open. Heath recorded another run in the fourth on a pair of wild pitches, making the score 6-3, and a run beyond that in the seventh on an Andrew St. Clair fly to second that the Hawks’ basemen couldn’t keep his glove on. Immediately following St. Clair’s at-bat, Kaleb Kent drove the ball to right field, bringing Bean home once more and pushing the lead to 8-3.

Marshwood looked like they might rally in the bottom of the seventh, but could only wring two runs from the inning, and ultimately fell, beaten by Westbrook’s bats, 8-5.

Souza speculated that Marshwood’s playing back-to-back might have given Westbrook a certain edge. “[Marshwood’s Matt] Brenner didn’t start at catcher second game. He didn’t come in until, I think, the sixth or the fifth inning, catching. So we had some stolen bases early that maybe we don’t run if Brenner is catching.”

“It definitely gets us rolling,” Bean said of taking the SMAA title. “We beat the one and two seeds in the same day … we’re swinging the bats well.”

Bean’s fellow Blue Blazes echoed his sentiment, and expressed self-assurance going into the playoffs.

“I feel real confident, especially after this,” Heath said. “We’ve proved we can beat the one and two seeds. We’re going to play defense, we’re going to hit the ball, and we’re going to pitch well. I think, hopefully teams are going to be afraid of us.”

“Coming up against the No. 1 and No. 2 seed, knocking them off as No. 4, gives us a big boost, mentally. Feels good.” Duncanson said.

“The teams that we beat, if we see them in the playoffs again, they’re probably going to be looking for some revenge,” he added. “But we’re a tougher team than what people think.”

“We’re going to keep doing what we’re doing,” Souza said simply, with a smile.

The Blue Blazes heap love on Zach Bean (6) after his grand slam over the left field wall.
Derek Bouchard of Westbrook gets caught out at first in a cloud of dust.
Keenan Lowe, gashed and bloody after making a play at the wall, is helped off the field by Marshwood head coach Eric Fernandes.
Blue Blazes starting pitcher Aaron Duncanson release the throw towards home.