The Bucksport Golden Bucks defeated Lisbon 1-0 to win the Class C baseball state championship Saturday at Mansfield Stadium in Bangor.
Ty Giberson was the winning pitcher for Bucksport. Hunter Brissette pitched for Lisbon.
The state title is the first for Bucksport, which concluded its season with a 20-1 record under first-year head coach Josh Jackson. Lisbon also finished 20-1 after being the last high school baseball team in the state to remain undefeated this spring through the regional championships.
Giberson got into a few jams early in the game, including a 29-pitch first inning with three walks and two strikeouts. Bucksport ended the inning unscathed after getting out of a bases-loaded situation.
The game was scoreless until the bottom of the fourth inning, when Giberson knocked in the game’s only run to score Jake Guty and give Bucksport its 1-0 lead.
Giberson reached the 110-pitch limit in the top of the seventh inning with runners on first and second and one out. He left the game with six strikeouts, five walks and five hits.
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Cam Rich replaced Giberson on the mound and Bucksport got the next two outs to end the game.
Lisbon stranded 11 runners on base in the game, including eight in scoring position.
Bucksport led the Class C North Heal points throughout the regular season, thanks in great part to a pitching staff led by seniors Giberson and Guty that entered the state final having yielded only 16 runs in 20 games with nine shutouts and eight other games when the Golden Bucks allowed just one run.
Guty was 8-0 on the mound this spring while Giberson entered the state final with a 6-1 record and was named the 2022 Penobscot Valley Conference player of the year and a Mr. Baseball finalist for his effort on the mound and at the plate, where he batted .489 during regular-season play with 18 RBIs and 11 stolen bases in as many attempts.
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The Golden Bucks had entered the state championship game with a 14-game winning streak since its only regular-season loss, a 1-0 defeat at Class B North champion Ellsworth in early May.
Top-ranked Bucksport’s Northern Maine tournament run began with a 16-0 victory over No. 16 Sumner of East Sullivan in the Round of 16, followed by a 6-1 quarterfinal win over No. 8 Maine Central Institute of Pittsfield, a 7-1 semifinal victory over No. 5 Houlton and a 4-2 win over No. 6 Mount View of Thorndike in Tuesday’s regional final at Mansfield Stadium.
Lisbon roared through its Mountain Valley Conference regular-season schedule undefeated, including nine games during which it scored at least 10 runs and eight contests when the Greyhounds pitched a shutout.
Lisbon then defeated No. 17 Boothbay/Wiscasset 17-2 in the Class C South Round of 16, topped No. 8 Oak Hill of Wales 18-0 in the quarterfinals, edged No. 5 Monmouth Academy 3-2 in the semifinals and outscored No. 6 Maranacook of Readfield 10-0 in the regional championship game.
