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Dom Smith had already thrown his glove a mile high in celebration after nailing down Biddeford High’s first baseball regional title since 2010.

He’d joined his teammates in collecting the regional championship plaque. Beating Thornton Academy, the rival Biddeford boys learn about when they’re in diapers, made it even better.

Then he turned his attention to a reporter asking how Biddeford — a team that won five games in 2024 and failed to make the Class A playoffs the year before — was able to pull off this improbable outcome. And it was clear that kids still read the local sports pages.

“Earlier this season we weren’t even a team to watch. We showed everybody now we are,” Smith said. “We all knew that we should have been a team to watch. We saw other teams that we just didn’t agree with, and didn’t see our name; it just gave us a chip on our shoulder.”

Biddeford (15-4) will run onto Larry Mahaney Diamond on the Saint Joseph’s College campus in Standish at 1 p.m. Saturday, as the home team in the Class A championship with the intent of winning the school’s first baseball championship since 1984.

“We’re a senior-laden team, a lot of real competitive kids who I just feel have shown mental toughness in close games, over and over again,” said Biddeford coach Keith Leblanc. “I think we snuck up on some other teams that maybe didn’t know that we felt we were going to be good, but I wasn’t super surprised. I had a lot of confidence in the senior class.”

Leblanc laughed when asked if his players have been thinking about how Biddeford’s last baseball championship was 41 years ago.

“I feel they’re oblivious to a lot of things,” Leblanc said. “I don’t think they think about the story as a coach or someone who has been around a long time might. As a coach you realize how hard it is to get there. It takes not only good players but a lot of luck.”

The Tigers’ state final opponent Mt. Ararat (16-3) has never won a baseball championship. The last time Mt. Ararat played in a championship game was 2004, a few days after its star pitcher Mark Rogers, son of a lobsterman with a blazing fastball, had been drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers with the fifth overall pick. Deering, which featured Ryan Reid on the mound and Ryan Flaherty in the field, won the game before an estimated crowd of 7,000 fans at Hadlock Field.

Rogers, Reid, and Flaherty each reached the major leagues.

“I don’t think we’ll have a crowd that big,” joked Mt. Ararat coach Brett Chase. “We don’t have anybody who’s going to get drafted.”

Both coaches see similarities between the two squads. A lot of seniors. Pitchers who pride themselves on throwing strikes and competing. Defenders who make the routine plays and sometimes the exceptional one.

Biddeford’s Gavin Haggett, the team’s ace who will play at Stonehill College, has had three hits in consecutive games, a 4-3, 10-inning marathon at No. 1 Marshwood and Tuesday’s 2-1 regional final against Thornton. Haggett was the starting and winning pitcher in the regional final.

Smith has had a pair of two-hit games. His sacrifice bunt set up Haggett for an RBI single to score Biddeford’s first run in the regional final.

The left side of the infield has sparkled. Shortstop Travis Edgerton and third baseman Ben Descoteaux cover ground and finish the plays with strong arms. Descoteaux has also been instrumental on offense. His leadoff single started a three-run top of the 10th at Marshwood, and he drew the RBI walk to force in the winning run against Thornton after sophomore outfielder Marcus Soucy had drawn a two-out walk to load the bases and force Thornton Academy starting pitcher Beck Edgerly to reach his 110-pitch maximum.

Sophomore Ernie Dore has been a key as the No. 2 starter. In 49 2/3 innings the right-hander has allowed just 24 hits and pitched to a 1.27 ERA. Dore will get the start on Saturday after earning second-team all-SMAA honors.

“Ernie Dore kind of came out of nowhere. He’s been the surprise of the season,” Leblanc said. “He’s just one of those kids, similar to our seniors, the pressure doesn’t bug him too much.”

On the field, the Tigers have shown their preseason confidence was warranted.

Just as importantly, they’ve proven to have the resolve to stick together through tough times.

Most of Biddeford’s players are two- and three-sport athletes. Many were on both the football and basketball teams. Entering this spring, Biddeford’s combined varsity records in football, basketball, and baseball over the past four school years was 46-109 without a playoff win. The baseball team was 14-34 without a playoff appearance.

LeBlanc is also part of the football and basketball coaching staffs.

“We’ve had a couple of down years but they are really competitive kids, and they practice hard and compete hard,” Leblanc said. “There’s been a few games where we’ve been beaten up but they don’t quit on us.”