AUBURN — Auburn Firefighters defeated East Auburn, 17-0, to advance to the championship round of the Auburn Suburban Little League major division playoffs.

The Firemen flexed their muscles early, doing all its damage in three innings and blanking East Auburn through the top of the fourth to win it. Tyler Blanchard threw two shutout innings, striking out five. Noah Yarnevich held the fort through the third inning, and Austin Cox closed it out in the fourth.

At the plate, the Firemen racked up nine hits by Kyle Herald, Blanchard (2-for-3, double and triple), Cox (3-for-3, two triples and a double), Shammond Thomas, Robbie Marcotte and Noah Moreshead.

AFF’s Tyler Libby smacked a two-run gapper but was thrown out at third base on a great throw by East Auburn’s Ben Cassidy on the relay by Daniel Nalley from center field.

On the mound for East Auburn were Jaelin Coney and Timmy Torres. At the plate for EA, Coney launched a missle that the AFF infield couldn’t handle, making him the only EA base runner. Later, Torres whacked a hard line drive, but it was nabbed by Moreshead of AFF. The young East Auburn team showed a lot of heart and courage in the ballgame but couldn’t match the strength of the older Fire Fighters.

The Firemen will face the Willis-Pepsi winner at 6 p.m. Thursday for the championship.

East Auburn won a thrilling battle over Austin Associates in the first round of the playoffs.

Cassidy led East Auburn with two hits. Nalley contributed a clutch hit in the top of the sixth for East Auburn. Alex Breton and Jason Taylor had two hits apiece for Austin.

Pepsi ended the major division regular season with three wins last week, edging Willis 5-4, topping AFF 9-8, and routing Hardy, Wolf & Downing 10-0.

ASLL Minors

AUBURN — M&P Auto raced out to an early lead and defeated Dillingham and Son, 12-6, in ASLL minor baseball action.

One of the most improved teams in the league, M&P played a solid game both offensively and defensively. Drew Bennett smacked a double and scored three runs. Landon Morrisette also crossed the plate tree times. Patrick Anthoine was a repeat hitter for the Mechanics.

F0r Dillingham, Brandon Demers hit a key single in a sixth-inning rally to close the gap. Two web gems for Dillingham kept the game within reach when Daniel Cifelli made a shoestring catch, and an inning later, Keenan St. Pierre turned an unassisted double play. Gabe Garcia was solid behind the plate working with the Dillingham pitchers.

Elliot Ave.

LEWISTON — In its final regular season contest, United Ambulance cemented the No. 2 playoff seed with a hard earned victory over Melanson Paving in Elliot Ave. Little League major baseball.

United wasted little time against Melanson starter Nick Bisson when Isaac Escobar singled to open the first. He was driven in on a sharp double by Eddie Turgeon for the first run. Jean-Luc Dostie walked and both runners advanced on a passed ball before United starter Damien St.Pierre helped his own cause with an RBI single, making the score 3-0.

Melanson struck back in their half of the first as Bisson singled followed by a pair of walks sandwiched around a strikeout when Wyatt Miller dribbled a grounder through second base for an error, scoring two. A passed ball led to Melanson’s third run before St. Pierre struck out two more to close the door.

Now embroiled in a 3-3 game, United struck for two more in the second, giving St. Pierre the run support he’d been lacking in his previous two starts versus the Pavers.

Austin Craig started the bottom of the third with a scorching grounder to first base which jumped up and bit first baseman Grant Hartley in the mouth. St. Pierre struggled a bit, walking three in the inning before the threat was quashed, allowing only one run to make the score 5-4.

United chased Bisson in the third when St. Pierre walked, stole second and was driven home by a Jess Lopez triple to right. Kyle Morin relieved Bisson and was greeted by a perfectly placed bunt single by Gabe Escobar. Lopez then scored when Shawn-Michael Chabot grounded to first.

Melanson battled back in the bottom of the third scoring three to tie the game on a Kyle Morin single and three United miscues. Escobar opened the United fourth with an inside-the-park home run to break the tie. Dostie then tripled and scored on an error to make it 9-7 United.

Dostie then took over on the mound and dominated the last three innings, striking out seven of the nine batters he faced to earn the save.

Melanson finished the regular season at 7-9, earning the No. 4 seed. They next face Sketlon, Taintor, and Abbott No. 5 on Wednesday. United capped its season at 9-6-1 and faces No. 3 Anthoine Financial Group on Friday.

Already having locked up the No. 1 seed, Elite Auto meets the winner of the Skelton/Melanson contest on Thursday. The championship game is slated for 5 p.m. Sunday at Elliot.