Babies, don’t let your fathers grow up to be your pitching coaches.

There’s no question that most parents would do well to read a book by Bob Blackman, if the St. Dominic Regional High School baseball skipper ever writes one, on what it took to develop son Brady into a respectful young man and a rocket-armed, right-handed pitcher.

The how-to manual wouldn’t be complete, though, without a lengthy treatise on accountability. And in the aftermath of his boy’s brilliant, 14-strikeout handcuffing of Dirigo, 1-0, for the Western Class C championship, Pops spent as much time owning up to his imperfections as basking in the adulation of another job well done.

“He gave up one hit, and that was my fault,” Bob Blackman said. “I called the wrong pitch. It was (no balls, two strikes) and I called a fastball up. I should have called a slider away, because that pitch was working so well for him.”

Bob smiled as he strode to the Mahaney Diamond hill for a calm-down conference after Jon Smith’s leadoff double to the left field wall in the bottom of the sixth inning. Perhaps it was more of a sheepish grimace from knowing he’d just helped give Brady whiplash and the Saints’ faithful heartburn. Or maybe he was simply secure in the conviction that his progeny and protg would bail him out again.

Blackman The Younger watched Smith steal third in a moment of miscommunication among the still-shaken Saints. Then he fanned Gary Holman, Spencer Berry and Dakota Holmquist in rapid-fire succession, punctuating each K’ with a hellacious slider. Thus was Bob re-established as a sharp guy and Brady restored to his pedestal, if there were any lingering doubts, as Maine’s best high school hurler regardless of class.

The guy who’s about to grab the baton from Bob Blackman as caretaker of Brady’s burgeoning career, University of Southern Maine boss Ed Flaherty, found his prized recruit sitting beneath two giant ice packs in the shade of the St. Dom’s dugout after the game. Flaherty told the ace that his last pitch to Holmquist in the sixth inning tripped the radar gun at 86 mph.

“I was getting tired,” he said, as if trying to define the term scary thought.’

Don’t be surprised if Dirigo disputes his claim. Blackman spun a 1-2-3 seventh to polish off the shutout. Nine of the Cougars’ final 11 outs were whiffs.

The top-seeded Cougars took care of Jay in a rain-delayed semifinal game Monday. That abbreviated schedule subtracted a day of preparation during which Dirigo might have cranked up a pitching machine to its highest setting.

Problem is, you can’t put an honor student’s head on the robot’s shoulders, or infuse it with competitive spirit to burn. Also, you could forget inviting a Mountain Valley Conference rival to practice and asking him to throw bullets. Dirigo didn’t encounter anyone wielding Blackman’s stuff during the season.

“We haven’t seen anybody throw that hard,” said Dirigo coach Don Hebert. “Marcus Palmer (of Mountain Valley) is a great pitcher, but he doesn’t throw with that much velocity.”

“He’ll go places,” said Berry, the poor kid who shared the mound with Blackman on Tuesday afternoon.

On any other day, Berry would have been the toast of Dixfield, Peru, Canton and Carthage. He allowed only six hits, struck out seven and stranded a runner at third base in each of the first three innings.

St. Dom’s touched him for a run in the top of the first, however, and the rest of the day mirrored the last three regional championship seasons. It belonged to Brady Blackman.

In a way, Tuesday was Blackman’s season. Dad picked son’s spots carefully all spring. Brady was undefeated but won only four games (with a 0.38 ERA and 63 strikeouts, no less). Bob also decided ahead of time that Brady wouldn’t start elimination games against Traip or Winthrop, essentially saving him for the regional final.

“It was tough getting through the playoffs,” Brady said. “I didn’t know if I would ever get my chance to pitch.”

Ten minutes after watching his son polish off the game they circled on their calendar three months ago, Bob hemmed and hawed when asked if Brady would start Saturday’s state final on three days’ rest.

Brady, on the other hand, didn’t hesitate for a nanosecond.

“That’s my last chance,” he said. “I’m not planning to miss that one.”

Message to Bradys old man: We can live with you messing up a no-hitter. But listen to the kid this time.

Kalle Oakes is a staff writer. He can be reached by e-mail at [email protected].