By Randy Whitehouse,Staff Writer

AUBURN – St. Dom’s fans have seen some excellent baseball in the last couple of years, with back-to-back appearances in the Western C championship and one regional title. Those two years have included some outstanding individual performances, too.

This year, though, a couple of Saints are having remarkable years that, when combined with a strong supporting cast, could lead to Saints fans witnessing something they’ve never seen before – a state title.

The Saints are off to an 8-0 start coming off Saturday’s 10-0 win over Waynflete. The defending Western C champions have been pummeling opponents into submission, outscoring them, 63-12. That includes three wins over Class D teams, Waynflete, Buckfield and North Yarmouth Academy, and one over a Class B team, Gray-New Gloucester.

The Saints have been led offensively by Jon Rutt, who’s hitting over .700

“He’s just hitting everything,” said Saints coach Allan Turgeon. “It’s scary even throwing batting practice to him every day. He hits it where it’s pitched and he hits it hard every time.”

The Saints’ lineup was projected to be a productive one heading into the season, but it’s been solidified even more by steady contributions from Jake Albert and Brent Cary.

Forget about engaging St. Dom’s in a slugfest, though, because the pitching has been just as formidable, tossing three shutouts so far while giving up just 1.5 runs per game. Ace Brady Blackman tossed one of those shutouts last week while one-hitting Old Orchard Beach to improve his record to 3-0. He also has two saves and has fanned 49 in just 23 innings.

“He’s got more than two strikeouts an inning. You don’t see that very often,” Turgeon said.

Blackman will get the call again Wednesday at NYA at the tail end of a stretch with three games in three days. The Saints host NYA Monday and travel to Sacopee Valley Tuesday.

Who’s bringin’ the heat?

The KVAC race has passed the mid-point and a clear favorite still hasn’t emerged. Oxford Hills coach Shane Slicer, whose team is 10-1 and has as good a claim to the “favorite” label as anyone, thinks the league is still up for grabs because no team has a dominant No. 1 starter, a la Mark Rogers at Mt. Ararat last year.

“To me, that’s fine,” he said. “It’s not like facing Rogers, where you’ve got no prayer. Every game you’ve got a chance.”

The Vikings have won seven straight since their loss to Gardiner last month. Their last three wins came against Mt. Blue, Mt. Ararat and Skowhegan, three of the top nine teams in the most recent Heal Point standings, and Slicer thinks his team’s experience is starting to show.

“I think we’re starting to have some confidence,” Slicer said. “We do have some veterans. I think we can take advantage of that. We’re not the best team Oxford Hills put up, but we have five starters back from a year ago and we still have our pitching.”

Knights, coach ring em up

Poland coach Dave Jordan got some unwanted umpiring experience last Monday.

Jordan, a board certified umpire, had to rush home to get his mask, counter and chest protector when no umpires showed up to work the Knights’ game against York.

Jordan had only umpired a handful of Babe Ruth games last summer before being called into action for his first official high school game.

“I do fine in all of the written tests, I just don’t have much experience, but that’s because I’m coaching,” he said.

Rather than make another special trip up to Poland to make the game up, York agreed to play the game with Jordan working behind the plate. Jordan went home, got his equipment and returned to the field decked out in full umpire regalia. The game started following an hour and 15 minute delay.

“When I stepped out there between those lines, I said This isn’t my team today,'” Jordan said.

Working the game alone, Jordan knew he wouldn’t have a good angle from behind home plate on some close plays on the basepaths.

“I decided before the game that if the ball is there before the runner, I would have to call them out,” he said. “The other thing I wanted to do was be consistent with my strike zone.”

Poland won the game, 1-0. The Knights improved to 9-1 after picking up two other one-run wins later in the week against Wells and Falmouth, with Tyler Merchant and Jason Lehr getting the game-winning hits.