By Kevin Mills,Staff Writer

AUGUSTA – Shane Slicer didn’t just need a pitcher Tuesday. He needed a survivor.

With the pitching staff on the Oxford Hills baseball team limited by health and unavailability, Slicer had no choice but to look to junior Chris Jennings.

The Vikings No. 4 hurler had started just a couple of games in the regular season, but one thing Slicer knew was that Jennings had the right stuff for the Class A state championship showdown.

“He’s probably our grittiest,” said Slicer. “In that situation, he’s not our best pitcher. He doesn’t throw hardest. He doesn’t have the best pitches, but he just gets it done. I think we needed that. Nothing unnerves him. That’s the key.”

The Vikings needed a miracle worker of sorts. With just a freshman slated as the backup plan, Jennings needed a gutsy performance just to give the Vikings a chance against Westbrook.

Despite a dislocated finger on his pitching hand, and some first-inning struggles, Jennings shrugged it all of.

“I knew I was going to have to play through some pain, but nothing was going to slow me down in a state championship game,” said Jennings.

Westbrook found that out early enough. Despite a shaky first couple of batters and a two-run homer by Andrew Keirstead, Jennings buckled down and put out the Blue Blazes as the Vikings claimed their first state crown.

“I knew we didn’t have a chance in the world,” said Jennings. “They gave us no chance. So I had to use that against them. We tried to keep them off balance. Coach said, Work your pitches, keep them low and outside, curveball, off-speed, keep them off-balance.'”

Jennings had injured his finger on a play at the plate in Monday’s Eastern A victory over Edward Little. He caught it on the catcher’s shin pad, dislocating his middle finger and jamming his ring finger. By that point in Monday’s game, Jennings already knew he was scheduled to pitch Tuesday.

“After that, I knew I had to get it ready,” said Jennings, who popped the finger back into place immediately after the play and had physical therapy on Tuesday. “I worked all night. I was up until 1 a.m. icing it. I had to make sure it got better. All I was thinking about was going home and working on it and doing the best I could.”

Slicer wasn’t concerned about Jennings’ ability to throw heat. He typically only throws in the 70s, but it was critical that he had control.

“We wanted someone who was going to throw junk anyway,” said Slicer, who used Jennings in relief to shut down Skowhegan in the quarterfinals. “I didn’t care if it would affect his velocity as long as he could throw strikes. I think it was in our favor having someone throw so slow.”

Jennings got into trouble in the first inning, forcing Slicer to think about warming up a replacement.

Jennings (3-0) walked leadoff batter Andrew Kinslow, throwing six balls on his first seven pitches. After a ground out, on a 3-1 count, Keirstead drilled a 3-1 pitch to center for a 2-0 lead.

“It’s the state championship game,” said Jennings. “It was nerves. I’ve been pitching since I was six years old. I got the nerves out of the way and did what I do best. That’s throw the ball.”

Jennings got out of that inning by striking out Jordan Purington and getting a Steve Barbour fly out.

“Me and (catcher) Russell (Estes) got in a groove there,” said Jennings. “We found the strike zone and once we did that, we settled in. The defense did the work, and we got the job done.”

By the time Jennings took the mound again, he had a 5-2 lead. From there, he allowed just four hits. He finished with 94 pitches, five hits, two walks and four strikeouts. Slicer had Chris Roy warming up briefly in the middle of the game, but Jennings never let the game slip from his grasp.

“It helped to walk out there with confidence,” said Jennings of the 5-2 lead. “It made it so I could throw my pitches when I wanted to them. That’s what a pitcher wants.”