By Randy Whitehouse,Staff Writer

The bus ride home from Bangor was as boisterous as could be expected when a baseball team is accompanied for the journey by a state championship trophy. But when the Oak Hill Raiders drove up the Exit 86 ramp, the bus suddenly went quiet.

Awaiting the Raiders were sizeable segments of the populations of Sabattus, Wales and Litchfield, who had been waiting three years to throw themselves another parade. With sirens and horns blaring, the procession rolled from Route 9 through downtown Sabattus and part of Wales.

“We had fire trucks and three state police escorts and probably a mile of cars behind us,” Oak Hill coach Chad Drouin said. “It was pretty exciting for the kids.”

The hero’s welcome was somewhat familiar to Drouin, an assistant to Bill Fairchild the last time Oak Hill won the title in 2003, and a handful of seniors who were freshmen that season. Like that playoff run, the Raiders saved perhaps their best performance for Eastern Maine champion Bucksport Saturday, dominating all three phases of the game in an 8-0 triumph.

The win brought the Raiders’ season-ending winning streak to an even dozen. To the Raiders, a 12-game streak to end the season was more satisfying as a completely unblemished season.

“I told the kids after the game,” Drouin said, “it’s one thing to win the state championship and go undefeated through the entire season. This one’s more special, knowing that we dealt with some adversity through the year.”

The Raiders weren’t feeling so hot after starting the season by losing three of their first five and five of its first nine.

“We were a little frustrated early in the year. Then we started meshing,” said senior catcher Wally Rines. “We got really hot at the right time.”

Drouin also coaches the Oak Hill players in Legion ball, and the comfort level they’ve built while spending the bulk of several springs and summers together paid off. The coach said he learned to have patience with the senior nucleus on the team, and they urged him to have patience with some key underclassmen, such as sophomore shortstop Chris Ellis. The Raiders started playing with confidence. The offense, led by junior Ethan Guerette at the top of the order, started getting timely hits while pitchers Jillson, Mike Eaton and Brian Bisson hit their stride.

“After about seven wins (in a row), we didn’t think we could be beat,” said junior southpaw Josh Jillson, who baffled the Golden Bucks Saturday with a three-hitter.

Though they had jelled by the time the playoffs started, they still had a tough road ahead of them. As the seventh seed, the Raiders only had one home game, a 3-0 prelim win over Lincoln Academy. From there, they had to go on the road to beat second-seeded Poland and third-seeded Mountain Valley before upsetting No. 1 Greely, 6-5, in a tense Western Maine final.

The lows came early, the highs came late and were accompanied by some bittersweet emotions at the end when nine seniors played their last game in an Oak Hill uniform. Drouin said watching them grow was one of the most memorable aspects of a most memorable season.

“I watched them go through this season and deal with the adversity and change and become young men,” he said.

Still, Drouin has a lot to look forward to, and not just next season. His wife, Beth, is due to deliver their child any day. He also has another year with his top pitcher, Jillson, his top hitter, Guerette, who led the Raiders in every offensive catagory but homers and RBIs, and a rapidly improving Chris Ellis anchoring the infield.

Saturday’s title was the first state championship the Raiders have won since Fairchild, who won three of them as the only coach in the history of the program, stepped down in 2004. Fairchild tabbed Drouin as his successor, believing he would continue the school’s proud baseball tradition while leaving his own mark on its history. While losing nine seniors marks the end of one era, Drouin was asked if Saturday’s win marked the beginning of a new one.

“I hope so,” he said. “A couple of parents said to me (Saturday), It didn’t take you long to get out of the shadow.'”