STANDISH – Top-seeded Dirigo’s plan was to wait out St. Dom’s ace Brady Blackman, to make him work hard in the hot Mahaney Diamond sun, and then make a move when he was most vulnerable.
But what the Cougars didn’t know was that Blackman had saved a little something extra for when times got tough.
Blackman outdueled Dirigo’s Spencer Berry by tossing a one-hitter and driving in the game’s only run as the second-seeded Saints won their third Western Maine Class C title in a row with a 1-0 win on the campus of St. Joseph’s College.
St. Dom’s (17-2) will defend its state championship at 5 p.m. Saturday at St. Joseph’s against Eastern Maine champion Searsport.
Blackman fanned 14, and he needed most of them to pitch out of some tight jams. The Cougars put just one ball in play with runners on base against him (a Jon Smith fly out to center after Josh Daley led off the fourth with a walk). Every other out with a man on came via the strikeout.
Relying on his mid-80s fastball, the St. Dom’s ace faced the minimum through three. He began to tire and his control left him in the fourth, as three walks loaded the bases with two out. That’s when Blackman decided to get crafty and struck out Aaron Fenstermacher swinging to end that threat.
“The first time through (the Dirigo batting order), he threw one off-speed pitch. So when it came down to it, we really had the out pitch,” said St. Dom’s coach Bob Blackman. “The more they wanted to score, the more they were gearing up for the fastball, and we were burying them with the slider away. They didn’t even foul a slider off him today.”
“I really tried to bear down when they got someone on, really tried to hit my spots, especially with my off-speed pitches,” Blackman said. “I didn’t throw any curve balls today, all sliders, and they were perfect.”
James Moulton drew Blackman’s fourth and final walk to lead off the fifth, then stole second to get into scoring position. Blackman struck out the next three hitters on four pitches each to strand him at second.
But the USM-bound right-hander’s best escape came in the sixth after Smith foiled the no-hitter by lining an 0-2 pitch into the left-center field gap for a leadoff double. The Saints’ infield overplayed for an expected bunt, so a heads up Smith stole an uncovered third base standing up.
But with the meat of their order up, the Cougars weren’t able to get the ball in play. Blackman fanned No. 3 hitter Gary Holman, Berry and Dakota Holmquist, all swinging. His last fastball to Holmquist, his 104th pitch, was clocked at 86 miles-per-hour.
“It’s frustrating having a runner at third with nobody out and having our two best hitters, two great hitters in a row up, and not even put the ball in play,” Dirigo coach Donnie Hebert said. “He dug down deep and struck out some quality hitters. He’s a heck of a pitcher, that’s for sure.”
MVC champion Dirigo (16-2) hit only one other ball out of the infield, a first-inning looper by Holman to short left that shortstop Peter Lewis turned into an out with a nice diving, over-the-shoulder catch.
St. Dom’s offense did all of the damage it needed to do with a two-out rally in the top of the first. Mike Carpenter singled, stole second and took third when the throw from the catcher went into center field. Blackman followed with a single to score Carpenter.
“I knew (Berry) had a curve ball, so early in the count I wasn’t looking to hit that. I was looking straight fastball, something I could drive,” Blackman said. “He threw me one on the outside corner, so I just stayed back and went to right field with it.”
Like Blackman, Berry (seven innings, six hits, 7 Ks, six walks) gutted his way out of some jams, leaving the bases loaded that first inning and keeping the Saints from doing further damage despite having at least one runner reach in every inning.
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