High school sports coverage is proudly supported by Maine State Credit Union. 

View 14 photos

AUBURN — Cat Facchini came through on the mound and at the plate to lead Hampden Academy to its first regional title.

Facchini drove in the game’s only run with a double in the top of the fifth inning and pitched a complete game to lift the fifth-seeded Broncos to a 1-0 win over No. 2 Lewiston in the Class A North final on Tuesday at Central Maine Community College.

“That hit was definitely huge because I’d be lying if I said I haven’t been in a bit of a slump recently,” said Facchini. “Before (the) game, my (batting practice) was horrible, so that was definitely a little bit freaky, but I work really hard in the offseason, especially this past offseason. I put in a ton of extra work. I was probably at the gym six days a week and I was pitching two times a week.”

The Broncos (13-6), who upset No. 1 Oxford Hills in the semifinals and No. 4 Edward Little in the quarters, advance to play South champ Cheverus (19-0) in the Class A final on Saturday, again at Central Maine CC.

“No one was expecting us to come in here and win it, especially from the first game, but we came in here, we proved everyone wrong,” junior Aubrey Shaw said. “Such a great feeling to be able to do that, and to be able to play with no pressure, no title to defend was great.”

Hampden Academy had an earlier opportunity to end the scoreless tie, with two runners on in the top of the third inning after a Lewiston error, but Blue Devils pitcher Harlee Gasser (11 strikeouts) worked out of the jam by striking out two batters.

The Broncos finally broke through in the fifth, when Facchini smacked a double to drive in Shaw.

“When (the Blue Devils) came to our place and slapped us 6-0 (on May 23), we were hoping we’d have the chance to get revenge on them, and then did,” Hampden coach Jarrod Williams said. “I can’t say enough; these girls have worked, since day one, their tails off.”

Lewiston ends the season, 15-4.

“Like I told the girls, they gave this program everything this year,” Lewiston coach Ryan Cormier said. “Everything. Everything the coaches asked, everything that they asked themselves, their teammates asked, I mean, they did it. Obviously, it’s not the way we wanted the season to end. We were confident coming in. You just got to tip your hats to Hampden. They played a great game. You just got to love these 1-0 ball games. You hate to see a game like this end in a blowout or anything like that.”

Hampden moves on to face Cheverus and three-time Gatorade Maine Player of the Year Addison DeRoche in the final game of a surprising postseason run.

“We have this thing called ‘revenge tour 2026,’ because all of these teams we lost to in the regular season,” Facchini said. “They’re all very, very talented teams. So every time we went in with the mindset, ‘Listen, we’re the away seed, let’s get some runs going first so that way we’re not playing catch up the entire game.”