LEWISTON — The first inning of a big game can be the most difficult for a pitcher. They may not yet have their mechanics down. They may have a hard time adjusting to the umpire’s strike zone. They can be too nervous or even too strong.

Settling down may be just a matter of time or one’s ability to adapt. Or, it may just be watching one’s offense get into gear quickly.

Bessey Motors starter Matt McLellan battled the first-inning blues in Thursday’s Zone 3 championship game against Gayton, then watched his offense, particularly the second, third and fourth spots, tee off for an 8-5 victory.

The talented trio of Matt Verrier, Brandon Chase and Cody Hadley combined to go 6-for-12 with two home runs, two doubles, four runs scored and five driven in, while McLellan settled in to quiet the Gayton bats long enough before giving way to Bessey’s rock solid bullpen.

With the win, Bessey (19-2) clinched its sixth zone title in the last nine years and earned a spot in the state tournament in South Portland, which starts next Wednesday. Gayton (18-3), which won the zone regular season title on a tie-breaker, must play a sudden death play-in game against Zone 4 runner-up Libby-Mitchell of Scarborough Saturday at 11 a.m. at Wainwright Field in South Portland.

“To settle down, especially against their lineup, that was impressive,” said Bessey coach Shane Slicer. “I think us scoring probably helped him settle down, too.”

Scott Ouellette went 2-for-3 with three RBIs and turned an outstanding double play to lead Gayton, while Mekae Hyde went 2-for-4 with two RBIs.

McLellan muddled through a 49-pitch first inning, surrendering RBI singles to Hyde and Ouellette.

But after breezing through the first inning, Gayton starter Corbin Hyde began to have problems commanding his breaking ball.  A pair of one-out walks helped Bessey tie it up in the second inning on a two-out, two-run single by D.J. Croy.

Bessey took the lead for good in the third when Verrier doubled, out-witted the left side of the Gayton infield in a rundown, and scored on Hadley’s double over the center fielder’s head. Dan Place drove Hadley in with a single to make it 4-2.

Verrier widened the margin to 7-2 in the fourth. After getting up in the count, 2-0 against Gayton reliever Jeff Keene, the University of Maine-bound catcher blasted a fast ball to center field for a three-run homer.

“I was just looking to hit it hard, like always,” Verrier said. “Sometimes it’s a laser by third base. Sometimes I get out. But that time I just hit it perfect.”

McLellan (five innings, four runs, two earned, six hits, six walks, three Ks) wasn’t dazzling, but he began to find his form in the second. He limited Gayton to just one baserunner in the second, third and fourth.

“I started throwing my fastball more and that got me into a rhythm,” McLellan said.

“The first inning, I think he was a little nervous, but then he calmed down and his mechanics came and he was just driving the ball downhill and getting outs,” Verrier said.

Gayton got a couple of unearned runs off McLellan in the fifth when Ouellette’s two-run single made it 7-4. But Bessey quickly regained the momentum on Chase’s solo home run in the sixth for an 8-4 cushion.

Bessey did some tinkering with its lineup in its season-ending doubleheader in Rumford last weekend, moving regular leadoff hitter Travis Linehan to the No. 9 spot and bumping everyone else up a slot.

“They pounded out 16 runs with that lineup, so we tried it again. We’re going to stick with it. It’s a pretty good one,” Slicer said. “It’s nice getting Matt up right off quick and then Brandon right behind him. Getting Danny back from a back problem and putting him in the sixth spot gives us the opportunity to get a little deeper.”

“Verrier and Chase’s home runs were big,” Gayton coach Todd Cifelli said. “I think both teams hit the ball real, real well. It seems like Bessey’s bats have woken up in the last week, week-and-a-half. I thought our bullpen did pretty well today, but a couple of walks hurt us.”

Gayton got a run back off reliever Cody Hadley on Mekae Hyde’s run-scoring single and got the tying run to the plate in the sixth but couldn’t capitalize. After Joe Sullivan threw a runner out at the plate from right field to keep the deficit at three runs int he top of the seventh, Evan Humphrey set Gayton down in order in the bottom of the frame to clinch the title.