STANDISH — Greely’s pitching depth has been impressive all season, and was again in the most important game to date.
Bailey Train, Michael McDevitt and Will Bryant combined on a four-hitter as the Rangers shutt out Lincoln Academy 3-0 to capture the Western Class B baseball championship Wednesday night at St. Joseph’s College.
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The second-seeded Rangers (16-3), who captured their first regional title since 2011, will play Caribou (14-6) for the state championship at 11 a.m. Saturday at Mansfield Stadium in Bangor.
Greely had only five hits against two Lincoln Academy pitchers.
Train and McDevitt have been part of several strong basketball and baseball teams during their four-year high school careers but haven’t yet won a state championship.
“It seems every year we’re on the brink,” said Train. “This is my last go-round and we want to make it count.”
The Rangers took a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning on a combination of hits, Lincoln Academy errors and a sacrifice fly by Pat O’Shea.
“We knew it would be a low- scoring game,” said Greely Coach Derek Soule. “Lincoln has some good pitchers and they had 10 shutouts during the regular season.
“Our three pitchers battled out there. Mike McDevitt relieved Bailey in the fifth and worked us out of a jam. That was a huge momentum shift.”
Train said he was dealing with a blister and lost a feel for the ball. The top-seeded Eagles (14-5) put the first two runners on base in the fifth on an error and a walk.
McDevitt struck out A.J. Oliver, the team’s No. 3 hitter, then got the next batter to pop to short.
The inning ended when Sawyer Pinkham tried to steal third and was tagged out.
“Mike really picked me up and saved my bacon. Everyone did their part and we scored enough runs to win,” said Train.
“That was our best chance to score,” said Lincoln Coach Ryan Ball. “We lost a little hope when we couldn’t.
“We left way too many guys in scoring position. We had runners in scoring position in six out of the seven innings.”
Ball came away impressed with Greely’s pitching.
“You can’t tell who their ace is,” he said.
Miles Shields and leadoff man Tom Buchholz were catalysts for the Rangers. Buchholz got on base three times, two on perfectly executed bunt singles. Shields, the seventh man in the order, had two hits, scored twice and drove in the final run.
“I’m very proud of Miles,” said Soule. “He came into the game in a 1-for-20 slump and went with the pitch for his two hits.
“Tommy really makes things happen.”
Greely ended the game with a double play.
“The seniors are hungry. They’ve been that way all year,” said Soule.
Tom Chard can be reached at 791-6419 or at:
tchard@pressherald.com
Twitter: TomChardPPH
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