AUGUSTA, Maine — Mt. Ararat of Topsham wasn’t eager to face Nick Cowperthwaite in Wednesday’s Class A North baseball final, given that the Bangor right-hander had shut the Eagles out over six innings in their lone regular-season meeting earlier this spring.
They got their wish in the championship-game rematch. They got Peter Kemble instead, and the result was no different.
The University of Maine-bound Kemble — who entered the game with a 0.15 earned run average this spring — pitched a four-hit shutout with 12 strikeouts and just one walk as the three-time defending state champions captured their fourth consecutive regional title with a 3-0 victory over Mt. Ararat at sun-splashed Morton Field.
“(Kemble) did a great job of pitching backwards,” said Mt. Ararat coach Bob Nearon. “On fastball counts he was throwing breaking balls. He threw a lot of first-pitch breaking balls and I can tell you there ain’t a high school player in the world that’s sitting back waiting for a first-pitch curveball.
“That’s smart pitching and that’s good pitching. If you’ve got that kind of command early in the game that’s strike one and when you get ahead of the batter like that the odds are in the pitcher’s favor.”
Sophomore third baseman Zach Cowperthwaite backed up Kemble’s pitching with all three Bangor RBIs, including a two-run double in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Fourth-ranked Bangor (15-4) playa 18-1 Falmouth in Saturday’s state final, also in Augusta. Falmouth, which lost to Bangor 3-0 in last year’s gold-glove game, earned its rematch with the Rams by defeating Cheverus of Portland 4-1 to win the Class A South crown.
Seventh-seeded Mt. Ararat, which upset No. 2 Brewer and No. 3 Edward Little of Auburn to reach the final, finished with an 11-9 record.
Kemble’s effort produced Bangor’s sixth consecutive postseason shutout, a string that began in last year’s regional semifinals.
But a pivotal moment of Kemble’s day against Mt. Ararat came not on the mound, but while he was on second base in the bottom of the first inning.
“I watched the umpire call a strike on (Nick) Cowperthwaite that was probably six inches off the plate but hit the catcher’s mitt right where it was,” he said. “So I said to (catcher) Derek Fournier, ‘If you set up outside we’re going to get that corner all day.”
Kemble went on to masterfully work the outside corner to the Eagles’ primarily right-handed lineup, often freezing the batters en route to six called third strikes.
The only major threat against him came in the top of the fifth when two Bangor errors and a single by Kyle Brennan loaded the bases for Mt. Ararat with one out.
Hunter Lohr then hit a soft liner to Zach Ireland at shortstop, and as he caught the ball Ireland noticed that Brennan had strayed from second base and quickly threw to George Payne to complete the inning-ending double play.
“When Peter got into some tough situations he didn’t back down, he just kept going and trusted his defense,” said Bangor coach Dave Morris. “It’s a great example for a lot of young pitchers, that it’s not just about yourself, it’s coming in and throwing strikes and letting your defense do the work.”
Bangor scored the only run it needed in the second inning. Noah Missbrenner drew a leadoff walk, moved to second on Gary Farnham’s single to left and to third on Ireland’s sacrifice before scoring on Zach Cowperthwaite’s grounder to second.
The Rams took control two innings later against Mt. Ararat junior right-hander Garrett Moody, as Farnham was hit by a pitch with one out and moved to second on an opposite-field single to left by Ireland. Both runners scored when Cowperthwaite drilled a 1-2 pitch deep into the left-center field gap for a two-run double.
“I’ve been hitting really well lately,” said the Bangor third baseman. “It was right there and I hit it.”
Moody finished with a five-hitter that included three strikeouts, two walks and two hit batsmen.
“We were a little optimistic because we didn’t have to to see (Noah) Cowperthwaite again since he shut us down the last time we faced them,” said Nearon. “Just knowing we weren’t going to see him gave us a shot, but we knew this would be tough.
“They’ve been the king of the hill for three years in a row now going for four, so they’re the team to beat by far.”
