AUGUSTA — Portland scored two runs in the bottom of fifth inning to pull out a 4-2 win over Auburn on Monday in the championship game of the Babe Ruth baseball state tournament for 13- to 15-year-olds.
With 11 players back from a team that played in the 14-year-old Babe Ruth World Series last summer, the District 4 champions went 5-0 in the eight-team state tournament to earn a return trip to New Englands.
The Maine champions will open the regional tournament against Rhode Island at 10 a.m. Friday in Rochester, New Hampshire.
Portland’s roster includes players from Portland, Falmouth, South Portland and Windham.
Portland allowed just four runs in four pool-play games, going unbeaten to reach the final.
“The chemistry is awesome,” Portland Coach Matt Rogers said. “They are great players, great kids. Lots of fun.”
Portland beat Auburn 10-0 in a game shortened to five innings by the mercy rule on Friday, but Rogers thought that score was deceiving and knew his team would have its hands full in the rematch against the District 3 champions.
“It was the scariest 10-0 game I’ve ever seen,” Rogers said. “(Auburn) made a lot of loud outs. We had a lot of diving catches in the outfield and we turned two double plays.”
Auburn took a 2-0 lead in the first inning Monday, scoring both runs with two outs.
Austin Brown started the rally with a single and a stolen base. Chris Paradis and Marius Morneau each followed with and RBI double.
It took Portland four innings to get to Brown, a right-handed pitcher who mixed a fastball with a much slower curve.
Portland catcher Caden Horton led off the top of the fourth with a home run over the right-field fence.
“It was a fastball,” said Horton, Portland’s No. 3 hitter. “He threw a lot of curveballs, mostly, but I was sitting on his fastball and took it out.”
With one out, Chris Naylor tripled to left, then scored on a single by Griffin Buckley.
Portland took the lead in the fifth when Bobby Shiels led off with a single and scored on a single by Nate Rogers. Chris Horton and Luke Hill followed with singles and Naylor drove in an insurance run with a sacrifice fly to push Portland’s lead to 4-2.
“The kids really battled, and when it was 2-0 in the fourth inning the kids really thought they had a chance,” said Auburn Coach Verne Paradis.
“I’m very proud of them. To stay 4-2 with those guys was really, really special.”
Naylor, who allowed seven of Auburn’s eight hits before leaving with two outs in the bottom of the seventh after reaching the 95-pitch limit, earned his third win in all-star competition.
“My fastball was working and my curveball was dropping in at times, so I felt I had control today,” Naylor said.
“I started to settle down as the game went on. It was my first state championship game and it was fun. I had my friends at my back.”
Reliever Brian Riley gave up a hit before inducing a popup to end the game.
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