GORHAM—This time around, no heart palpitations were necessary.

Only hearts full of love, pride and triumph.

Saturday afternoon, in the Class B state final against Caribou at Ed Flaherty Field on the campus of the University of Southern Maine, Yarmouth’s baseball team capped a postseason run like no other with an emphatic victory, a triumph that was fueled by all of the things that made this squad so special.

And timeless.

Great pitching, strong defense, clutch hitting and a refuse-to-lose mentality from a senior class that will never be forgotten.

After senior starter Sam Bradford worked out of a jam in the top of the first, with a big assist going to his senior catcher, Graeme Roux, the Clippers went in front to stay in the bottom half, as senior shortstop Andrew Cheever walked, stole second, moved up on a ground out and scored on a sacrifice fly from senior centerfielder Sam Lowenstein, a Yarmouth run if there ever was one.

The score remained 1-0 until the bottom of the fourth, when the Clippers got some separation, scoring three times, as senior leftfielder Max Gilbert hit an RBI single and two more runs came home on an error.

In the fifth, another error scored a run, then Yarmouth made it 6-0 as senior pinch-hitter Ben Damasco laid down a run-scoring bunt, another Clippers’ specialty.

Bradford gave way to Cheever in the sixth, who gave up a run on a ground out, then Yarmouth tacked on two more unearned runs in the bottom half on an error and a triple from senior third baseman/shortstop David Swift.

Cheever then closed it out in the seventh, getting the final hitter to pop out to Swift to end it and the Clippers prevailed, 8-1.

Yarmouth won its first title in seven years, captured its second Class B championship and its fifth overall, finished the season 16-4, ended Caribou’s campaign at 13-7 and in the process, gave longtime coach Marc Halsted his 200th victory with the program.

“It was all about 11 seniors who ran into huge roadblocks this year,” said Halsted, after he won his second title. “Whether it was not scoring a lot of runs, eking out victories, or taking a lot of abuse from other teams, we rose above it with character and dignity and that’s how we won.”

Coronation

Yarmouth came oh-so-close to capturing Class B last season, but couldn’t solve Old Town ace Gabe Gifford and lost, 1-0.

In the offseason, the Clippers lost a program legend, as Gibson Harnett, Class of 2017 and hero of the 2017 title run, passed away from clear-cell sarcoma, a rare, incurable cancer.

Harnett has been a source of inspiration to this year’s team and is never far from anyone’s thoughts or heart.

On the field, Yarmouth returned a superb team, led by a group of 11 transcendent, triumphant seniors, but it wore the bulls-eye as a result and nothing came easily.

The Clippers stumbled against Cape Elizabeth, Freeport, Wells and York, but they managed to win their other 12 regular season games (see sidebar for links to previous stories).

Yarmouth then embarked on a palpitating regional tournament run, first rallying from three runs down to eliminate No. 7 Wells (13-3, in six-innings), then erasing a one-run deficit in the bottom of the seventh on senior first baseman Jack Janczuk’s improbable two-run squeeze bunt for a 5-4 victory over No. 4 York, before pulling the biggest rabbit out of the hat of all, down to their last strike Tuesday in the regional final, the Clippers got a two-out, two-run triple from junior second baseman Alec Gagnon to shock No. 1 Greely, 2-1.

Caribou wasn’t expected to get to the big game and went just 9-7 during the regular season.

The Vikings then emerged as champion from the No. 6 seed, first ending No. 3 Old Town’s reign, 12-2, in the quarterfinals, before blanking No. 7 Oceanside (5-0) in the semifinals and defeating No. 1 Ellsworth (4-2) in Tuesday’s regional final.

While Caribou was appearing in only its second-ever state final, Yarmouth was participating in its sixth (see sidebar for previous results).

The teams had no playoff history.

Saturday, on a beautiful afternoon with temperatures in the high 60s, in front of a vocal, packed house, the Clippers finished what last year’s team started and bowed out in poetic fashion.

Bradford, who is normally Yarmouth’s centerfielder, got the nod on the mound with Lowenstein unavailable after the ace hit the pitch count limit in the regional final. Bradford walked his opposite number, junior Brayden Brescia, to start the game, then threw a wild pitch to move Brescia to second. Junior centerfielder Edison Sleeper then chopped the ball in front of the plate and Roux mishandled it for an error, but in typical Clippers’ fashion, he turned a negative into a positive by picking up the ball and firing to Swift at third to apply the tag on Brescia, who had rounded the bag too far.

“We practice that a lot,” Roux said. “We do a lot of work on secondary plays. I didn’t make the first play, so I just pump-faked hard to first and threw to third to get the out. We practice our defense every day. We pride ourselves on our defense.”

Junior catcher Matt Pelletier then flew out to center and Bradford escaped the inning by fanning senior third baseman Keegan Bell.

“(Graeme’s play) was big, a good way to get us going and that sparked our bats a little bit,” said Bradford.

Yarmouth then went in front in the bottom half.

Cheever drew a walk leading off, then he stole second. Swift grounded out to third, but on the play, Cheever moved to third and when Lowenstein flew out to center, Cheever came home on the sacrifice fly for a 1-0 lead. Janczuk then flew out to center to retire the side.

Bradford protected the lead in the top of the second, getting junior second baseman Luke Beidelman to ground out to Cheever, who began the game at short. Cheever, a defensive wizard, had to go deep into the hole to get to the ball, then he threw out the runner in the defensive play of the game.

“I put a good throw on it,” said Cheever. “We came into this having no idea about the other team, but we didn’t care. We had the mindset of we only care about us, we root for us and we play for us and win for us, and that’s what we did today. A good feeling.”

Freshman designated hitter Joel Ouellette then watched strike three and junior first baseman Bryce Dillon bounced out to second.

Yarmouth had a chance to extend its lead in the bottom half, but left two runners on.

Bradford struck out swinging leading off, then both Gagnon and Gilbert reached on errors, but after a sacrifice bunt from senior designated hitter Aaron Mason, Halsted waved Gagnon home and this time, the Clippers’ aggressiveness didn’t pay off, as he was thrown out to retire the side.

Bradford had a quick, 11-pitch inning in the top of the third, as he got junior leftfielder Dawson St. Pierre to pop out to second, senior rightfielder Alex Belanger to fly out to right and Brescia to sky the ball to Gilbert.

Roux began the bottom half by lining out to third. Cheever then singled to left, but Swift flew out to center and Lowenstein bounced into a second-to-short force out to keep the score 1-0.

Caribou hoped to rally in the top of the fourth when Sleeper drew a four-pitch walk leading off, but Pelletier popped out to short, Bell grounded into a short-to-second force out, then, after Bell stole both second and third base, Beidelman chased strike three.

The Clippers then opened it up, with some help, in the bottom of the frame.

Janczuk started the uprising with a single to left. Bradford followed with a pop up which resulted in a force out at second, but Gagnon hit a single to right and Gilbert, who is new to the team this year, came through with a clutch single to center, scoring Janczuk.

“I saw the ball really well today,” Gilbert said.

After Gagnon and Gilbert pulled off a double steal, Mason bunted out to the catcher, but after Roux walked to load the bases, Cheever grounded to short, where freshman Nic Plourde couldn’t handle the ball and on the error, Gagnon and Gilbert both came home. Swift bounced out to short for the final out, but a one-run lead had turned into a four-run cushion.

Bradford made quick work of the Vikings in the top of the fifth, getting Ouellette to ground out to short, Dillon to fly out deep to Lowenstein in center and St. Pierre to pop out foul to first.

Yarmouth added two more runs in the bottom half.

Lowenstein led off and drew a walk on a 3-1 pitch, then Janczuk lined the first pitch he saw through the hole between third and short to put runners at first and second. That brought up Bradford, who popped out to second, but with Damasco at the plate, Lowenstein and Janczuk pulled off a double steal and when Pelletier’s throw was wild, Lowenstein scored and Janczuk moved to third.

“The biggest thing was to apply pressure, but that’s nothing new,” Halsted said. “That’s what Yarmouth baseball is. We applied pressure and made them make plays. We were highly active today. We work on that endlessly. The things we drill, the guys just do instinctually and they’re instinctual ballplayers. They’re special.”

Damasco then laid down a bunt to score Janczuk. Gilbert kept the inning alive with a single to right-center, but Mason grounded into a force out to keep the score 6-0.

Caribou would get on the board in the top of the sixth, but couldn’t put a big inning together.

Belanger led off by singling to left on the first pitch. When Bradford threw a ball to Brescia, Halsted came out and made the change, bringing Cheever in to pitch, moving Bradford to third and sending Swift to short.

Cheever threw a wild pitch to put Belanger at second, then he got Brescia to ground the ball deep into the hole. It looked like a sure hit, but Swift got to the ball before firing a rocket to first for the first out. Belanger took third on the play, then came home with the Vikings’ lone run when Sleeper bounced out second to first. Pelletier kept the inning alive with a single to center, but Cheever slammed the door by fanning Bell on a 3-2 pitch.

Yarmouth scored twice more in its half.

Senior Matt Gautreau, an integral part of the team’s success as a second baseman, leadoff man and base stealer, who had missed almost every pitch of the postseason with a shoulder injury, pinch-hit and led off by beating out a bunt single. Senior Ian O’Connor came on to run and even though it was far from graceful, he moved to third when Cheever chopped a single to right-center. An errant pickoff throw resulted in another error, allowing O’Connor to score.

“Ian O’Connor won in soccer and hockey and he scored a run today in heroic and stylistic fashion,” Halsted said. “He wanted to compete today. He didn’t play baseball growing up. He joined our program three years ago and found a way to contribute.”

Swift then made sure Cheever would touch home, as he lined a triple over the head of Sleeper in center. Sleeper got to the ball and threw it to Beidelman and when Swift tried to stretch a triple an inside-the-park home run, Beidelman threw home to Pelletier to ensuire it didn’t happen and Pelletier applied the tag. After Lowenstein lined out to right, Janczuk reached on an infield single, but Bradford flew out to right to keep the score 8-1 heading for the top of the seventh.

Beidelman led off the top of the seventh by drawing a walk on a 3-1 pitch, but Cheever got to a little chopper in front of the plate off the bat of Plourde and threw to first, where Janczuk recorded the out. Dillon then worked the count full before flying out to center. That left the game up to St. Pierre, who hit a soft liner toward short and Swift snared it to bring the curtain down on Yarmouth’s 8-1 victory.

“I thought I’d strike him out, but it’s OK,” said Cheever, who made an untimely error in last year’s state game, but fittingly, fired the final pitch to secure the victory Saturday. “We have a new-and-improved shortstop over there and the ball was hit right to him. It’s a perfect ending. It’s really a fairy tale, such a good feeling. It feels so good. Last year haunted me for awhile, but I have a good mindset when it comes to that stuff. It gets me through life well and I just move forward. If I had four errors today and we won, I wouldn’t have cared. I love winning with this team. It’s such a good team. All the seniors love it and the younger guys love it, it’s a good feeling for them. We came out on top and that was the goal. We didn’t know anything about (Caribou) and we didn’t care. We always have the mindset of just cheering for our guys and winning for our guys and that’s what we did today. ”

“It doesn’t really seem real,” Bradford said. “It’s very special for us and it’s a great way to cap the season. I threw my glove as far as I possibly could and I might have tweaked my shoulder a little bit after pitching five innings, but it was a good celebration.”

“It feels great,” Gilbert said. “I’m glad we could win it again. It was a great experience. We were motivated from the start of the season. The celebration was fun. I was in leftfield and looked over to Sam Lowenstein in center and said, ‘It’s the last out of our high school career, just enjoy the moment.'”

Not only did Yarmouth capture the championship Saturday, it was a landmark victory or longtime coach Marc Halsted.

“I’ve felt a lot of pressure over the past 48 hours,” Halsted added. “I was feeling it because I wanted these guys to have the incredible moment where if you win a championship together, you walk together forever. When you see each other at the Clam Festival 10 years from now, you don’t even have to talk about it, you know it was something special. You know what Alec Gagnon did against Greely and you know what Jack Janczuk did against York. We’ll never forget those incredibly special moments.

“It’s small-town high school baseball, let’s not kid ourselves. I had a class a week ago before the Wells game and I was talking about perspective in class. I said to a kid in class, ‘Do you care if we beat Wells tonight?’ He said, ‘I didn’t know you were playing Wells tonight.’ I said, ‘Exactly, this is about perspective.’ The world goes on without Yarmouth baseball, but for this group of people, it’s the most important thing in their lives right now. For them, it’s an unforgettable moment. These are the days you’ll remember 50, 60 years down the road.

“We found a way to 16 wins. A lot of teams came at us. They knew we had David Swift and Andrew Cheever and Sam Lowenstein and Jack Janczuk and Sam Bradford and they gave us their best. We were marked men all year long. We faced number one pitchers so many times this year and we had to compete our tails off. We averaged 3.93 runs per game during the regular season. We found ways to win all year long. We grinded it out. We have tough kids who played great defense and we had in-the-moment pitching from highly competitive kids who wanted the ball on the mound.”

The Clippers got two hits apiece from Cheever, Gilbert and Janczuk.

Cheever also scored two runs, while Bradford, Gagnon, Gilbert, Janczuk, Lowenstein and O’Connor all touched home plate once.

Damasco, Gilbert, Lowenstein and Swift all had RBI.

Yarmouth left seven runners on base.

Bradford earned the victory, going five-plus innings, allowing just one earned run on one hit, walking two and striking out three.

“I was told early in the week to do my job and throw strikes and go four innings,” Bradford said. “I got five, into the sixth.”

“At 50 pitches, Sam falls off the cliff, every game,” Halsted said. “He wasn’t pitching extraordinarily well up to 50, but from pitches 50 to 70-whatever, he was phenomenal. First-pitch strikes, competing.”

Cheever pitched the final two innings, giving up just one hit and one walk.

“We handed the ball to Andrew Cheever and it was ballgame,” Halsted said. “It’s special because I’d like to think teams wanted to beat Andrew Cheever this year and they didn’t. They couldn’t. Andrew Cheever won.”

Caribou managed just two hits and made eight errors. Belanger scored the Vikings’ lone run and Sleeper had the RBI.

The Vikings stranded four runners.

Brescia deserved a better fate, but took the loss, giving up eight runs (three earned) on eight hits in six innings. He walked three and struck out one.

“This was kind of our first experience at a setting like this,” said Caribou coach Josh Dillon. “We’ve played a lot better than that. I don’t know what it was, but today was just one of those days where we had the yips.”

Appreciation and anticipation

Yarmouth’s senior class has excelled not just in the spring, but in sports like football, soccer and golf in the fall and basketball and hockey in the winter, while also serving as top students and school leaders.

It was only fitting that group was immortalized Saturday by winning its final game and bringing home a shiny trophy in the process.

“It’s really hard to think that it was the last time we’d play together,” said Bradford, who will play baseball next year at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth. “We’ve played together our whole lives. It was really special to get this last one. I’m said to see us go, but it’s a great ending. A great way to end it and cap off our legacy.”

As for the 2025 Clippers. If all goes well, get ready for more palpitations and victory celebrations.

“We lose 11 guys, but that’s why we grind all summer,” Halsted said. “We’ll go back to work in our wooden bat league. That’s why I’m heavily involved in Little League and middle school and our Junior Little League program. We don’t have the arrogance to say we’re going to reload. We’ll go to work with great kids who want to achieve what these guys wanted to achieve and we’ll see what happens.”

Press Herald staff writer Steve Craig contributed to this story.

Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net.

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