AUBURN – Top-seeded Pepsi captured the Auburn Suburban Little League major division baseball championship.

In the semifinals, Pepsi defeated Hardy, Wolf and Downing, 13-7. Pepsi’s bats came alive with 15 hits. Ryan Kapplemann led the way, going 4-for-4 with three doubles. Other repeat hitters for Pepsi were C.J. Jipson, Drew Lashua and Gavin Bates. Alex Thompson banged out a pair of hits for HWD. Pepsi featured Bates, Jarod Norcross-Plourde, Lashua and Jipson on the mound, with Lashua picking up the win in relief. Kyle Romero pitched a strong game for HWD.

Pepsi scored four times in the first inning and held on for a 4-3 victory over Austin Associates in Wednesday’s championship game

Five hits got Pepsi off to the flying start, highlighted by Daveon Brooks’ two-run double.

Austin’s chipped away at the lead with a run in the second and two more in the fifth. Dillon Marston’s two-run single in the fifth scored Justin Keaney and Brandon Varney after each singled.

Strong pitching and solid defense were staples for both clubs. Austin’s Keaney settled down after the first and quieted the Pepsi bats with four shutout innings. Pepsi got strong starting pitching from Jipson and then Norcross-Plourde in relief. Varney made several sparkling plays at shortstop for Austin’s, while Bates led Pepsi’s defense.

Hammond rolls into South Lewiston title game

LEWISTON – Hammond Lumber rolled into the South Lewiston Little League baseball championship game with a 15-0 semifinal rout of Dube Gravel.

Sixteen batters went to the plate and produced 11 first-inning runs for Hammond. Garrett Poussard, Elijah Harris, Ryan Bell and Colby Bilodeau each batted twice and scored twice during the early rally. Brent Jones added an inside-the-park home run and Dominic Fournier cracked a triple during the uprising.

Hammond scored two more runs in the third and another pair in the fourth before the game was called. Jacob Strout allowed only two hits and two walks for Hammond while striking out six. Dube Gravel’s only two hits were singles by Alex Porter and Evan Gagne. Jeremy Madore and Matt Forgues each earned the free pass.

Hunter Dickinson and Gagne each made an outstanding play with runners in scoring position to prevent Hammond Lumber from inflicting further damage. Madore pitched well after the rough first inning. Forgues relieved in the fourth and continued to throw strikes for Dube.

Hammond attempted to claim its sixth straight championship Thursday night at South Lewiston against the winner of the Aroostook Fence/Poisson’s semi.

Hudson tops Hammond in ASLL Minors finale

AUBURN – Hudson Bus edged Hammond Lumber in the final Auburn Suburban Little League minor baseball contest of the season for both teams.

Ian Frumiento pitched a perfect inning on the mound for Hammond. Cooper Watkins went 3-for-3 with some stellar defensive plays.

Hudson Bus got great pitching from Ben Eastman, Carter Cullenton and Noah Perrault. Making excellent defensive plays were Jacob Jackson, Noah Soto and Noah Perrault. Eastman and Cullenton collected multiple hits.

Both coaching staffs would like to thank Craig Jipson for all his hard work and effort in making this a successful season.