GORHAM – The scoreboard at Gorham High School read 14-0 before North Yarmouth Academy even made an out in Saturday’s Class D state championship game.

By the time the 41-minute first inning was over, the Panthers sent 22 men to the plate, cracked 13 hits, scored 16 runs and torched four Central Aroostook pitchers.

When the 10-run mercy rule took effect with the last out in the top of the fifth inning, NYA had itself an easy 18-1 victory and its second straight state title.

“I’ve never seen anything like that,” said Luke Welch, a junior second baseman from Auburn who had two hits, a walk, two RBIs and two runs scored in the first inning alone.

NYA finished the season a perfect 19-0, a record that encompasses several wins over Class C teams, including two against Western Class C runner-up St. Dom’s.

“I didn’t see that coming at all, because we lost our two best players from last year,” said Welch. “We usually don’t hit that well, although in the playoffs we hit pretty good.”

Matt Curran began the deluge with a bunt single, and the Central Aroostook pitcher lobbed his throw to first base into right field to send urran into scoring position immediately.

The next 15 batters reached base, and two other Central Aroostook pitchers tried in vain to retire a batter before Jeff Clockedile induced a fly ball to left for the first out of the inning.

Tim Lachance (3-for-3, two doubles, five RBIs) drove in four runs in the inning and David Griswold three, while each of the first seven Panthers in the batting order scored twice in the frame.

Lachance and Griswold scored three times in the game, while Welch, Curran, Griswold and Dan Bartlett collected two hits apiece in the Panthers’ 17-hit attack.

“I didn’t tell the kids to ease up,” said NYA coach Bruce Poliquin, who started putting in his second unit in the third inning. “I told them to be gentlemen. We weren’t going to steal. We weren’t going to go home on a passed ball, but if we get a hit we’re going to take the bases we should and score when we should.”

Central Aroostook (11-6) scored its lone run in the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Bryan Grew. NYA starter Ben White yielded two hits in five innings, striking out four and walking one.

NYA won its third state championship in the last four years. Poliquin, in his fifth year as head coach, called this edition the best he’s ever coached.

“They’re very businesslike. They don’t have emotional high and lows,” said Poliquin, who will lose only two seniors off his roster. “We also have a couple of kids that keep us loose, (junior first baseman) Micah Mangini and Luke Welch. When you’re loose, you’re having fun and you play better.”

The Panthers were as loose as they could be Saturday.

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