WESTBROOK — The Saco 8-10 year old Little League team continued its hot streak Thursday with a 7-2 win over Scarborough, forcing a final showdown in the state championship today.

After taking a 2-0 lead in the second inning on an RBI from Josh Penney and a walked in run, Saco got into some trouble in the bottom of the fourth when Scarborough tied the game at 2-2.

Saco coach Ryan Chessie called a timeout and had a conference with his players, and they never looked back as they outscored their opponent 5-0 the rest of the way.

“At that point you try to get the kids to relax and break the tension a bit, sometimes its as simple as trying to make them laugh,” said Chessie. “You just remind them of the situation. Josh Ney was throwing strikes and (Scarborough) got a couple of good hits, they weren’t doing anything wrong so I told them that we would get the outs and get back in the game.”

Saco broke loose in the fifth, scoring four runs and taking control of the game.

Penney would hit a two-run double, followed by an RBI from Justin Labelle and another run on a passed ball to make the score 6-2.

Henry Lausier added a two-run double of his own in the sixth to clinch the 7-2 win.

“We saw a lot of pitches which was important for us, we were patient but aggressive,” said Chessie. “We were swinging at strikes, putting the ball in play and forced (Scarborough) to make the plays … just playing smart.”

Josh Ney pitched for Saco, going 6 2/3 innings and allowing just two runs while striking out seven batters.

“Josh Ney was unbelievable, the kids perform well under pressure and tonight Josh was phenomenal. Under this type of pressure it’s a lot more difficult and he was fantastic,” said Chessie.

Both clubs also faced unusual circumstances with three separate delays for lightning. Despite the situation, both teams were ready to play through it.

“I don’t think it effected either team one bit, that’s a great team over there, and during the delays the kids were just laughing and having a party in their vehicles,” said Chessie.

The two teams are set to have a final showdown at Westbrook today at 5:30 p.m., and Chessie feels his team in prepared to do battle once again.

“We’re confident, we’re as ready to go as we can be. We’re playing our seventh game in eight days so we’ve pretty much played an entire season in a week, I told the kids how special that was.”

— Sports Staff Writer Alex Sponseller can be reached at sports@journaltribune.com or at 282-1535 ext. 323.