WINDHAM — There is no such thing as a satisfying season-ending loss. But yes, some lend themselves to being accepted less begrudgingly than others.

Locke Mills didn’t boot the baseball all over the diamond or blow an enormous late-inning lead Wednesday evening, as is sometimes the rule at American Legion playoff time.

The Mountaineers simply ran into a right-handed buzz saw named Cody Dube. Windham’s ace weaved a one-hit shutout, going only one batter beyond the minimum, and struck out 11 without issuing a walk in the Merchants’ 1-0 Zone 3 semifinal victory.

“He pitched a great game. It was a well-played game with nice defense on both sides,” Locke Mills coach Rick Whitney said. “I think that was a great game to end it on, even though you never want to lose.”

No. 2 Windham (15-5) clinched at least a play-in game for a berth in the state tournament at Old Orchard Beach.

The Merchants travel to top-seeded Pastime Club of Lewiston for the title game at 5:30 p.m. Thursday. The champion punches a ticket to the double-elimination tournament that begins next Wednesday. The runner-up falls into a win-or-else contest Saturday at The Ballpark.

“We still have work to do,” Dube said. “We’d like to beat Lewiston and get that first seed. That’s the goal.”

Windham had other serious business before taking care of Locke Mills (12-8).

Less than an hour earlier, the Merchants finally eliminated Mechanic Falls, 5-4, in the eighth inning of a quarterfinal that was suspended due to darkness Monday, then rained out Tuesday.

Then came the matter of riding out a pitchers’ duel between Dube and Locke Mills’ Ben Field, who fanned six and scattered six hits, also without a base on balls.

Dube and Robbie Hamilton finally provided the necessary offense in the bottom of the sixth. Dube reached on a seeing-eye single with one out, then rounded the bases on Hamilton’s double to the center field power alley.

“I felt like we were squaring balls up all game,” said Dube, who was 2-for-3. “It seems like every inning we had base runners on. We just finally broke through.”

“The leadership on this team, the seniors from (this past) year, is so strong,” Windham coach Nick Dubay added. “The way the season ended in high school (with a Western Class A semifinal loss to Scarborough), they don’t want that to happen. They don’t want to be done. You could see that with Cody and Robbie getting the big hits in the sixth.”

Dube ended it by coaxing three consecutive fly balls to right fielder Calvin Field.

Locke Mills couldn’t muster that kind of contact early. Dube struck out eight of the first 10 Mountaineers, capped by seven consecutive whiffs.

Jeb Clarke’s two-out double over the head of left fielder Matt McLean gave Locke Mills life in the fourth.

Clarke advanced to third on a throwing error before Dube drew a sharp ground ball from Kurt Morgan to second baseman Mitchell Hodge and silenced the threat.

Kyle Peterson represented Locke Mills’ only other base runner, reaching on an error in the sixth. He was erased by Dube and catcher Shawn Francoeur on a strike ’em out, throw ’em out double play.

“It was difficult. You can’t do a lot if you don’t get runners on,” Whitney said. “You could tell early on it was going to be a low-scoring game, but it was a fun game to be a part of.”

Locke Mills’ Drew Wilson ended three of the first five Windham innings with catches in center field, none more astounding than his diving grab to halt the fourth.

With McLean at third after an error and a wild pitch, Wilson broke perfectly on a sinking line drive by Tanner Laberge and made a shoestring snag.

“He made an amazing play and saved the game at that time,” Dubay said. “We could have hung our heads at that point and gotten depressed.”

Hamilton also had two hits for Windham, which won two of three games against Pastime (18-2) during the Zone 3 regular season.

koakes@sunjournal.com

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