ORONO, Maine — The Greely Rangers could have made excuses on Saturday afternoon.
Their pitching staff was severely thinned by pitch count rules, injuries and inexperience. And they had been stymied all day by Ellsworth ace Brayden King.
To make matters worse, they trailed by four runs with two outs in the last inning.
Undaunted, the Rangers demonstrated poise and resolve, rallying for five two-out runs in the top of the seventh inning to grind out a 6-5 victory over the Eagles in the Class B baseball state championship game at Mahaney Diamond on the University of Maine campus.
Greely of Cumberland Center (17-3) won its seventh baseball state title overall and its first since 2015. Derek Soule, in his 25th season leading the program, didn’t have to think long about where this one ranks.
“I’m incredibly honored to be the coach,” Soule said. “This was the best of them all. To be down and get five with two outs is extraordinary.”
North regional champ Ellsworth (14-6) could just have easily been hoisting the championship trophy. The Eagles needed only one more out to secure the crown, and twice had the Rangers down to their last strike.
“We had our chances and sometimes things just don’t go your way in a big game,” said Eagles coach Dan Curtis. “They are kids and there’s nerves involved and we got what we needed to and it just didn’t work out today.”
Ellsworth carried a 5-1 lead into the seventh inning and was on the verge of victory after King struck out Alex Rossignol for the second out. However, that signalled the end for King, who reached the 110-pitch limit.
With Luke Piper (hit by pitch) on second, reliever Dawson Curtis threw a wild pitch, then walked Wyatt Soucie. Owen Piezik followed with a hard RBI single to left.
The Eagles opened the door further when Ben Kyles’ grounder was misplayed, loading the bases. Wes Piper worked a run-scoring walk, then Kyle Soule spanked a two-run single to center to tie the game.
“We were down four with two outs and we just believed,” Soule said of the comeback. “We just came back and gave it our all and we won. I knew we were going to win, right when that inning started.”
Jackson Barry came on to pitch and threw a strike, but his second offering to Keeler Vogt bounced in the turf and got away from the catcher. Pinch runner Sawyer Boudle raced toward second, only to find Piper had retreated to the same base.
Boudle scrambled back and forth in a rundown, allowing Piper to hustle all the way around third and home with the go-ahead run.
“A total mistake. A kid running with his head down,” a laughing Derek Soule said of Boudle’s potential bungle.
“Once you get in a rundown, I immediately sent Wes knowing that he can run and if he can score before they get the tag, it counts, and it worked,” he added.
The Eagles mounted a final threat in the bottom of the seventh against relief winner Sylas Almy. The crafty sophomore got the first two outs, but surrendered an opposite-field double down the left-field line off the bat of Dawson Curtis.
Almy then induced a game-ending groundout.
“This is a really gritty group,” Derek Soule said. “We had psychological obstacles to overcome before this day even began.”
Greely’s No. 1 pitcher was not available because of pitch count, its No. 2 pitcher was injured and its third-best pitcher was limited on pitches because of injury.
“It’s an unbelievably resilient group,” coach Soule said.
Kyle Soule was the offensive catalyst for Greely with three singles and three RBIs, including a run-scoring single in the sixth to get his team on the scoreboard.
Almy, featuring a nice curveball, scattered five hits over 4 1/3 innings, posting five strikeouts with no walks and a hit batter.
King wasn’t super sharp for Ellsworth, but mixed up a lively fastball and a good offspeed pitch while limiting the Rangers to three hits over 6 2/3 innings. The senior fanned seven, walked three and hit two batters.
Curtis sparked the Eagles’ offense with two doubles, a single and three RBIs, including a run-scoring single in the first inning and a two-run double in the third that made it 3-0.
Barry posted two hits, one of them a two-run single in the sixth that extended Ellsworth’s lead to 5-1. But it wasn’t enough.