BANGOR—Yarmouth’s baseball team didn’t leave Mansfield Sports Complex with the coveted trophy Tuesday afternoon, but the Clippers played like champions nonetheless in the Class B state final against Old Town.
Yarmouth had an uphill climb against the Coyotes southpaw, senior ace Gabe Gifford, a Mr. Maine Baseball finalist who will pitch for the University of Maine next year, and its opportunities were few, but the Clippers still managed to come oh-so-close to their first championship in six years.
Yarmouth senior starter Liam Hickey worked in and out of trouble throughout, but thanks to some key pitches at key times and some terrific defense behind him, kept Old Town off the board for five innings.
The Clippers had limited chances and couldn’t solve Gifford, keeping the game scoreless.
Then, in the bottom of the sixth, Coyotes senior leftfielder James Dumond reached on error and got to second base with two outs, when senior third baseman Lucas Moore came up with the game’s biggest hit, an RBI single to break the ice.
Yarmouth managed to put a runner on in the top of the seventh, but Gifford got senior centerfielder Jonny Cody to pop out to end it and the Clippers’ transcendent season culminated with an agonizing 1-0 loss.
Old Town won Class B for the second time in three years and for the third time since 2016, as it finished 17-3, and in the process, ended Yarmouth’s campaign at 14-6.
“We wanted a championship 100 percent, but we have great human beings and it’s a special group,” said longtime Clippers coach Marc Halsted. “I always say if you win a championship you walk together forever, but I was a little wrong, because 10 years from now, we’ll see each other and have that look in our eyes and a big smile for each other.”
One run short
Yarmouth had a feast or famine regular season, starting with two losses in three games, then after nine consecutive victories, lost three of four to close (see sidebar for links to previous stories).
The Clippers still managed to earn the No. 2 seed in Class B South and after rallying late to edge No. 10 Leavitt, 2-1, in the quarterfinals, beat rival Greely, ranked sixth, for the third time this spring, 6-1, in the semifinals, before jumping to an early lead en route to a 4-2 victory over top-ranked Cape Elizabeth in the regional final last Wednesday.
Old Town, meanwhile, lost twice to Class A North finalist Bangor and once to John Bapst during the regular season, but won its other 13 games, scoring 113 runs in the process, while surrendering just 25.
As the top seed in the region, the Coyotes and Gifford blanked No. 9 Mt. Desert Island (9-0) in the quarterfinals, edged fourth-ranked Lawrence (2-1) in the semifinals, then ended No. 2 Ellsworth’s title reign with a 5-0 victory, behind another Gifford shutout, in the regional final.
Yarmouth and Old Town met once before, in the 2017 Class B state final, when the Clippers capped an improbable run from the No. 9 seed to win the crown with a 3-0 victory, behind Gibson Harnett’s gem and some opportunistic base running.
The teams were scheduled to meet Saturday afternoon, but poor weather moved the game to Tuesday, allowing Hickey and Gifford to pitch without restriction.
Yarmouth sought its fifth state title in five tries (see sidebar for previous results), but instead, it would be Old Town winning its third in its sixth state final appearance.
The Clippers hung tough as long as they could, however.
Old Town senior ace Gabe Gifford throws a strike to Yarmouth junior Matt Gautreau to start Tuesday’s Class B state final, won by the Coyotes, 1-0. Hoffer photos.
Gifford set an early tone by catching Yarmouth junior second baseman Matt Gautreau staring at strike three to start the game. Junior shortstop Andrew Cheever then reached on catcher’s interference by Coyotes junior Jackson Lizzotte. Junior first baseman David Swift chased the first pitch and popped out to Gifford near shortstop, then play was halted for several minutes, as Lizzotte had to leave the game, due to being hit on the hand by Cheever’s swing. Senior third baseman Stevie Walsh then chased the first pitch he saw and flew out to center to retire the side.
In the bottom half, Gifford tried to spark a rally by lofting the ball to right-center and while Cody got to it, he couldn’t catch it and Gifford steamed into second with a leadoff double. Hickey then caught Dumond looking at strike three and after sophomore Nate Baker, who came on to replace Lizzotte behind the plate, grounded to second, moving Gifford to third, junior first baseman Brendan Mahaney chased strike three to strand Gifford.
The Clippers went quietly in the top of the second, on three ground balls, as junior designated hitter Sam Lowenstein hit the ball sharply to short before being thrown out, junior leftfielder Sam Bradford bounced out to second, then Cody grounded out to first unassisted.
In the bottom half, Moore reached leading off, when his squibber in front of the plate was mishandled by Yarmouth junior catcher Graeme Roux. Hickey then struck out sophomore second baseman Alex McCannell and junior designated hitter Matt Brawn. Junior shortstop Preston Vose kept the inning alive with a seeing-eye single to right to put runners at first and second, but Hickey struck out the side, catching junior centerfielder Aiden Gomm looking at strike three.
Gifford continued to keep the Clippers at bay in the top of the third, catching junior rightfielder Jack Janczuk looking at strike three, battling back from a 3-1 count to strike out Roux, then, after Gautreau singled past third for Yarmouth’s first hit, getting Cheever to bounce harmlessly back to the mound.
Yarmouth senior starter Liam Hickey pitches to Old Town senior Gabe Gifford.
In the bottom half, Gifford got things started again with a single up the middle on a 3-2 pitch. Gifford stole second, but Dumond struck out looking and after Baker blooped a single to left-center, with Gifford taking third, Mahaney threatened to produce the first run when he hit the ball on a line to the right side, but it was right at Swift, who caught it a step off the bag before touching first to complete an inning-ending double play.
“David, great catch there,” said Hickey. “Great reaction to get the double play. That was huge.”
The Clippers then had their best chance to score in the top of the fourth.
Swift grounded out to short on the first pitch he saw, then Walsh bunted out back to Gifford. Lowenstein kept the inning alive with a single up the middle, then when Gifford bounced a pickoff throw, Lowenstein was able to go all the way to third. Bradford then hit a shot to right, but fortunately for Old Town, it was right at junior Ben Dickey, who made the catch to keep the game scoreless.
“What did we want to do against a kid throwing 86, 87, 88 (miles-per-hour)?” Halsted said “Hit the ball hard and hit the ball in play and force them to make plays and they made plays, so good for them. Sam had a great swing there.”
Hickey then benefited from another double play in the bottom half.
After catching Moore looking at strike three, Hickey walked McCannell, but with McCannell trying to steal second, Brawn chased strike three and Roux threw to Cheever, who tagged out McCannell for the strike-him-out, throw-him-out double play to retire the side.
In the top of the fifth, Gifford battled back from a 3-1 count to catch Cody staring at strike three. He then got Janczuk to bunt back to the mound for an out before catching Roux looking at strike three.
Hickey had his easiest inning in the bottom half, striking out both Vose and Gomm, then getting Gifford to chase the first pitch and fly out to left.
Yarmouth had another near-miss in the top of the sixth.
After Gautreau struck out looking, Cheever bounced out to second. That brought up Swift, who hit a pivotal three-run home run in the Clippers’ regional final win over Cape Elizabeth and crushed a Gifford offering to deep left, but it didn’t carry far enough and was caught for the final out.
“He just barely missed it,” lamented Halsted.
The Coyotes then finally broke through in the bottom half.
Dumond led off with a grounder to Cheever’s right. Cheever got to it, but his throw was high, allowing Dumond to reach. Baker quickly bunted Dumond to second.
“(Nate) was our MVP today for sure,” said Moore.
Mahaney then flew out to right and Hickey was on the verge of another escape, but this time, it wasn’t to be, as his 0-1 pitch to Moore was lined to left-center and it dropped in front of Cody for a single. Dumond, running on contact, easily scored for the game’s first run.
“I didn’t really want to go extra innings, so I tried to put the bat on the ball and hoped something good would happen,” Moore said. “It was a low fastball. I just swung the bat and put it out there. I thought it was going to drop when I was running down the first base line. Their pitcher was good. We can usually hit the ball, but we couldn’t today. He threw the perfect speed. That’s definitely the biggest thrill of my career so far.”
“I was hoping the run was coming,” Gifford said. “I had a feeling. I said, ‘Just give me one boys and I can go out and get it done for us.’ Lucas has been a great hitter all year. I was confident with him up there. I had no doubt he’d get a hit.”
Hickey said it was an off-speed pitch that didn’t go where he’d hoped.
“I think I just left that curveball a little high and he took a good swing on it,” Hickey said. “Sometimes that just happens.”
Hickey got McCannell to bounce out to second, but the damage was done.
The Clippers hoped for some come-from-behind magic in the top of the seventh, but it wasn’t to be.
Walsh grounded out to short on a bang-bang play. Lowenstein then grounded to the right of Mahaney, who made the stop and threw to Gifford covering, just before Lowenstein dove into the bag. That left the season up to Bradford, who drew a four-pitch walk to give Yarmouth life.
That life was quickly extinguished, however, as on his 80th pitch of the afternoon, Gifford got Cody to pop foul outside of first and at 4:42 p.m., Mahaney squeezed the ball in his glove to end it and give Old Town the championship, 1-0.
Old Town celebrates its championship.
“At that point, I couldn’t feel a bone in my body,” said Gifford. “All the weight on my shoulders was just off. Emotion took over, but once (Bradford) was on, I knew I just had to lock back in and throw strikes. State championship, adrenaline takes over the whole game. I didn’t get tired.
“It’s another number on the banner forever. It feels great.”
The Coyotes only managed five hits, two from Gifford, who also stole a base.
Dumond scored the game’s lone run and Moore had the RBI.
Old Town left five runners on.
Gifford dazzled, throwing seven shutout innings, allowing just two hits and one walk while striking out six.
“(Gabe’s) amazing,” Moore said. “He threw just 80 pitches, that’s crazy.”
Gifford credited his catcher for stepping up.
“Shout out to Nate Baker, just a sophomore,” Gifford said. “I think he had only caught one bullpen (session) for me ever. He did great.”
Leaving it all out there
Yarmouth mustered just two hits and stranded four.
Hickey was the hard-luck loser, allowing one unearned run on five hits in six innings, in his swan song. He walked one and struck out 10.
“(Liam) did great,” said Gifford. “He has a nice sink to his fastball and it leaves you off-balance. He’s tough to hit.”
“I felt good on the mound,” said Hickey, who will attend St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York next year, where he’s undecided about playing sports. “Everyone played a great game. Graeme called a great game. He set up outside fastballs and gave me good spots on the curveballs and he called great changeups too.”
“Liam wasn’t going to give up,” said Halsted. “You can leadoff with a double or a walk and he doesn’t care, it won’t rattle him. He bears down and takes care of us.”
Yarmouth’s senior captains accept the state runner-up plaque.
The Clippers might have fallen a run short, but they left the field with their heads held high.
As they should.
“I’m not happy with the loss, but our team fought hard,” Hickey said. “(Gabe’s) good. He threw hard, but I think our boys fought. It didn’t take us long to get our bats on the ball. We were just as close to getting a win as they were. You can’t win them all, I guess.
“We’ll definitely look back at the positives of this year. The loss will hurt for a little while, but we’ll move on. We have a lot of guys who love each other. In the end, that’s what matters. Our team has a lot of character and that’s what we’ll take away from this. It’s been a great run. It’s hard to believe it’s over. We’ll look back at all the games we won and think good things.”
“We hit the ball hard,” Halsted said. “I think he got six of our guys on Ks, so that means we put the ball in play. We were going to steal home at the end. We had something in our back pocket. We just needed to get a runner to third base, but it didn’t happen.
“I’m so proud of our guys. We won the Southern Maine championship and we beat one of the best teams in the state to get that. We’re proud. We’ll stay tight with each other. This is a great group of young men. There isn’t a single kid on this team that you wouldn’t want as a neighbor, as your son’s friend, as your son’s mentor. Liam Hickey, Stevie Walsh. I hope my two sons grow up to be like those young men.”
While Yarmouth has some talented underclassmen returning in 2024 who figure to be hungry to finish what this year’s team started, the final mention of the 2023 team has to be in reference to seniors Cody, Hickey, Walsh, Truman Peters and Roman Solmos, who led the Clippers deeper than many expected.
“I can’t wait to see what these seniors do as college kids, as athletes and students, as fathers,” Halsted said. “They’re champions. With all due respect to our seniors, next year doesn’t exist yet. It’s about Liam, Stevie, Jonny, Roman Solmos, Truman Peters. They’re spectacular leaders and good kids. They gave everything for this group.
“We’ll worry about the future tomorrow.”
Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net.
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