STANDISH – All season, Searsport coach David Pepin limited Nate Adams’ innings to that the Vikings’ ace could finish the playoffs strong.

As it turned out, Adams had more than enough left to pitch Searsport to its second Class C title in three years.

Just four days after throwing 131 pitches in 10 innings in the Eastern C final, the hard-throwing senior stifled a potent Livermore Falls lineup and led Searsport to a 5-0 win at Mahaney Diamond on the campus of St. Joseph’s College on Saturday.

“It was all mental preparation,” Adams said. “I knew I could bounce back today.”

Throwing in the low-to-mid 80s with a slingshot motion, Adams fanned seven and didn’t walk a batter on 78 pitches (55 strikes). He gave up three hits – an infield single to Chandler White, a bunt single to Willie Brown and a solid base hit to center by Brown. He also hit one batter and pitched around two errors. But the Andies had just one runner reach second base, and he was erased on a strikeout-throw-out double play at third to end the third.

“He’s just a gutsy performer. He’s mentally and physically tough,” Pepin said. “I know he had three days rest and he threw 131 pitches (on Tuesday), but we kept his innings down for a reason this year. He’d only pitched 38 innings coming into today.”

“We were hoping he’d break down as the game went on, but just like the other day, he got stronger as the game went on,” said Livermore Falls coach Brian Dube. “He kept the ball away. We couldn’t turn on it and we kept popping it up. We didn’t make the plays, either. Both teams got three hits, but what stands out is the three errors we put up there.”

The Vikings (17-3) manufactured a pair of runs against Andies starter Willie Brown (5 2/3 innings, two hits, three Ks, seven walks) in the second. Evan Kingsbury and Bob Wilson led off the frame with back-to-back singles. Rocky Faunce sacrificed them over with a two-strike bunt, then Brown was called for a balk which scored Kingsbury because he failed to come to a stop in the stretch. After a walk, Josh Pedrick laid down a suicide squeeze to first base to plate Wilson.

“Getting the 2-0 lead took a lot of pressure off,” Pepin said. “Josh had a great at bat. He fouled off, like, six pitches, and then put the ball in play. That’s what you’ve got to do against a good team to make things happen.”

Adams had just one 1-2-3 inning, the first. But he didn’t pitch himself into more trouble with walks.

“I just wanted to pound the strike zone and get ahead of them,” Adams said. “That usually doesn’t change. I usually try to get ahead quick. I used mostly fastballs today, which helped me.”

The Andies (16-4) felt they still had a shot at a comeback until the sixth, when two infield errors led to three unearned insurance runs.

“The three unearned runs hurt us. It pretty much took away any chance of us moving runners along,” Dube said. “Our strength has been hitting the ball all year and (Adams) shut us down.”

“I’ve been waiting a year just for this moment and it feels great,” said Adams, whose team suffered a crushing 7-3 loss in extra innings to St. Dom’s last year. “I’m glad to go out on top.”