Biddeford baseball takes Class A South title over rival Thornton

Biddeford celebrates after beating Thornton Academy, 2-1, in the Class A South regional final on Tuesday in Standish. (BRIANNA SOUKUP/Staff Photographer) Purchase this image

STANDISH — The tension couldn’t have been much higher. Dom Smith was on the mound for Biddeford High, trying to secure the Tigers’ first trip to the Class A baseball state final since 2010. He needed one more out, against rival Thornton Academy, and the count was 3-2.

Smith got Parker Bjorklund to smash a hard grounder to senior shortstop Travis Edgerton, and the defensive standout completed the play, throwing a strike across the diamond to Gavin Haggett to finish Biddeford’s 2-1 win in a rain-soaked Class A South final Tuesday night at Saint Joseph’s College.

Smith relieved Haggett, who hit his 110-pitch limit while giving up a leadoff walk to start the bottom of the seventh inning.

“I threw a slider. I was just thinking ‘Do my job’. Gavin’s thrown a great game. I just wanted to keep it going, not let anybody down,” said Smith, one of seven seniors in Biddeford’s starting lineup.

Biddeford scored the winning run in the top of the seventh when Ben Descoteaux drew a bases-loaded, two-out walk that forced in Smith, who led off with a single.

No. 4 Biddeford (15-4), which won five games a year ago, will return to Saint Joseph’s on Saturday to face Mt. Ararat (16-3) in the state final at 1 p.m. Mt. Ararat beat Bangor, 4-3, in the North final. Biddeford’s only state title in the MPA playoff era was in 1984. Mt. Ararat’s only Class A final appearances were back-to-back losses to powerhouse Deering teams in 2003 and 2004.

“We won five last year, but the senior class, I felt all along they were a special group,” said Keith Leblanc, the Tigers’ 13-year head coach. “They played together and had success together, too. Last summer, we had a phenomenal summer, and even last year when we didn’t win many, there were a lot of close games. They just had to kind of get over the hump. I felt like this year we had a real serious chance, and we’ve been talking about it all the time.”

No. 3 Thornton, playing in its fourth regional final in the last five seasons, finished 14-5.

RAIN, RAIN, NEVER WENT AWAY

• There were no delays, but rain was a constant at Larry Mahaney Diamond, at its heaviest in the second and third innings. The grounds crew, taking their lead from Saint Joseph’s baseball coach Will Sanborn, kept the field in shape during and after the harder rains, but it was still tough conditions. Haggett, a lefty who will pitch next season at Stonehill College, was noticeably struggling with his command in the early innings.

Haggett gave up back-to-back doubles to Jacob Fish and Noah Fullerton in the first as Thornton took a 1-0 lead. He had to work out of jams in the next four innings, but as the rain lessened, he found an extra gear to his fastball in the fifth and sixth, striking out five of six batters, including three straight after walking Brayden Duane and giving up a hard single to Fish (3 for 3) to start the fifth.

“I felt a lot better when I didn’t have a wet ball. When I tried to throw hard, I definitely needed that better grip on the ball,” Haggett said.

DEFENSIVE GEMS

• Biddeford was error-free, as it was in Saturday’s 10-inning semifinal win against No. 1 Marshwood. Thornton made one error that did not factor into the scoring.

Edgerton’s glovework helped in the second inning when he threw a runner out from the seat of his pants. With runners at second and third in the fourth and the infield playing in on the grass, Edgerton snared a sharp grounder and threw home to Kaden Langevin, who tagged Carter Moody for the second out. Then he went into the hole for a Brennan Tabor grounder and made a long, strong throw to first.

Descoteaux, Biddeford’s third baseman, twice charged slow rollers and turned them into bang-bang outs.

• Biddeford knotted the score in the top of the fifth. Landon Sirois led off with a single and, after a sacrifice bunt by Smith, Haggett helped himself with an RBI single to center.

Both Haggett (six innings, five hits, 10 strikeouts) and Thornton starter Beck Edgerly (6 2/3 innings, eight hits, five strikeouts) hit their 110-pitch limit in the seventh inning.

Smith (2 for 3) and Haggett (3 for 3) singled to start the top of the seventh. Edgerly got the next two outs but was unable to finish the inning, as Marcus Soucy worked a walk to load the bases.

Ben Indorf came into the tough spot and fell behind 3-0 before walking Descoteaux to force in the winning run.

THEY SAID IT

• “This is my first time ever beating them since I’ve been on Biddeford, so it’s a great feeling to beat them, especially when it mattered.” — Biddeford pitcher Gavin Haggett.

• “We did have chances. Give credit to Biddeford. They made some really good defensive plays, got some big hits. I don’t know how many times we had guys in scoring position with less than two outs, but we just couldn’t seem to get the big hit.” — Thornton coach Jason Lariviere.