Lockdown pitching leads Scarborough baseball to state title

You can’t win if you can’t score and in the biggest games of the 2024 postseason, Scarborough’s pitchers made sure the opposition couldn’t push across a single run.

And the end result was a state title, which capped a memorable, dominant campaign.

“It’s a testament to the kids and the work they’ve put in since March,” Scarborough coach Wes Ridlon said. “They’ve believed since day one where we’d be. It’s very exciting. We weren’t dominant but strong in every aspect.”

The Red Storm, who were upset by Marshwood in last year’s quarterfinals, were expected to be a contender this spring, but no one had them going 15-1.

Scarborough began the year 7-0, then was upset at home by Deering, but bounced back to win its final eight games to earn the top seed in Class A South. The Red Storm outscored the opposition, 107 runs to 32 over the course of the regular season.

They were even better in the playoffs.

After getting past No. 9 Gorham in the quarterfinals (3-1), Scarborough solved its recent nemesis, No. 4 Marshwood (5-2), in the semifinals, setting up a regional final showdown with No. 2 seed and preseason favorite Falmouth, a team the Red Storm edged, 2-1, back on May 16 in Falmouth.

Junior Erik Swenson, who shut the Navigators down in the regular season matchup, dazzled again in a game played at the University of Southern Maine in Gorham.

Scarborough’s Erik Swenson delivers a pitch during the Class A South Final against Falmouth last Tuesday. Swenson pitched a complete game shutout. Shawn Patrick Ouellette / Portland Press Herald

Swenson needed a nice running catch from senior leftfielder Patrick McCue to escape the first inning.

“I struggled to find the zone a little bit, and I would attest that to nerves, but as soon as I got through the inning, I came to the bench and I calmed down,” Swenson said. “(I was) taking my time on the mound. The coaches say to slow the game down, you don’t want it to speed up on you.”

Swenson and Falmouth’s Nick Wyse, followed by Tyler Simmons, matched zeroes the first three innings. In the bottom of the fourth, Scarborough broke through, as junior third baseman Matt Fallona singled, junior centerfielder Cam Wellman walked and with one out, the pair pulled off a double steal and when the throw to third base got away, Fallona came home with the only run Swenson would need.

In the fifth, senior rightfielder Zak Sanders doubled with two outs, senior first baseman Mason Porter walked, then McCue singled to right to score Sanders, moving Porter to third.

“All year, we’ve made the most of our chances,” McCue said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s no outs, one out, two outs, we execute, put our bat on the ball and make our way around the bases.”

Fallong then singled to center and Porter came home to make it 3-0.

“We just stuck to the fundamentals,” Fallona said. “We knew we were going to get to them eventually. I was just happy I could do it for (Swenson). He’s the best pitcher in the state.”

In the sixth, after a leadoff walk, sophomore second baseman Finn Coburn doubled with one out, then senior shortstop Tyler Archambault singled to center, scoring both sophomore pinch-runner Tyler Garrett and Coburn to all but put it away.

Swenson allowed a leadoff single in the seventh before slamming the door, getting a ground out to end it and Scarborough advanced, 5-0.

Scarborough celebrates its regional championship.

“We’ve been working for it all season, putting the time in at practice, working with the coaches, working outside of practice,” said Swenson, who has verbally committed to pitching at the University of Maine. “It feels great to be able to play up to the moment and get it done when you needed to.”

“Anytime you go against a Mike D’Andrea-coached team (Falmouth), you have to be on your game,” Ridlon said. “You have to beat the best to be the best.”

Fallona paced the offense with two hits, while Archambault drove in a pair of runs.

Swenson needed 106 pitches to finish the shutout, giving up just two hits and two walks while striking out four.

“He’s our leader, he’s our ace,” Ridlon said. “We feel anytime he’s on the mound, we’re going to be in a baseball game.”

Saturday in Augusta, Scarborough faced its last obstacle, Class A North champion Messalonskee, a team the Red Storm lost to in the 2012 state final.

This time around, nothing would stand between Scarborough and the trophy.

It was Sanders’ turn to take the mound and before he did, he had a three-run cushion.

In the top of the first, Archambault singled to left, Sanders was hit by a pitch, Porter was hit as well to load the bases with no out and an RBI ground out from McCue provided the Red Storm a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. With two outs, Sanders scored on a passed ball, then Wellman and Porter pulled off a double steal, with Porter coming home to make it 3-0.

Sanders set the Eagles down in order in the bottom of the first and in the top of the second, the Red Storm tacked on two more runs.

Coburn walked with one out, Archambault was hit by a pitch, then Sanders helped himself by singling in Coburn. After Porter walked, McCue did as well to force in another run, making it 5-0.

Sanders surrendered a two-out single in the bottom half, but that was it.

“It’s a deep breath and everything goes away (when you get runs early and can pitch with a big lead),” Sanders said. “Getting three in the first was so huge, because then I can go out and pitch without any pressure on me. Our defense was unbelievable and at the plate, we got clutch hits when we needed to.”

After Scarborough went quietly in the top of the third, Sanders gave up another two-out single and again retired the next hitter.

The Red Storm threatened in the top of the fourth, as Archambault and Sanders singled and Porter was again hit by a pitch, but McCue grounded into a second-to-short-to-first double play.

Messalonskee got a leadoff single in the bottom half, but Sanders picked off the runner. That loomed large as Sanders gave up a walk with two outs, but he followed that up with a strikeout for out number three.

Scarborough went 1, 2, 3 in the top of the fifth, then the Eagles did the same.

In the top of the sixth, the Red Storm put it away.

Senior leftfielder Tyler Kenney singled, Coburn reached out on an error and after the runners moved up on an Archambault ground out, Sanders singled home one run, then Porter doubled to center to make it 7-0.

Sanders set Messalonskee down in order in the bottom half and after Scarborough failed to add to its lead in the top of the seventh, Sanders slammed the door in the bottom half.

Sanders allowed a leadoff single, but his defense then came up huge, first producing a third-to-second-to-first double play.

Then, the final play was a fitting ending to the game and the entire season.

Messalonskee’s Parker Reynolds hit a soft dribbler that bounced away from Sanders and it looked as if the celebration might be delayed, but Coburn got to the ball and fired to Porter for the final out, giving the Red Storm a 7-0 victory, culminating a brilliant campaign, and setting off a joyous celebration.

“It all starts with our pitching,” Archambault said. “We have the best pitching in the state and have a great defense behind them. We’re always there to support our pitchers. We just played our game. We played fundamental baseball and got out in front. Our coaches always stress to play our best baseball at the end of the year and that’s what we did. We’ve been working hard all year and we put it all together for the playoffs. I couldn’t have asked for a better way to go out.”

“It’s all fundamental baseball,” said Ridlon, who was an assistant on the 2019 title team and won a championship as a player at Deering. “That’s what we said going in, that fundamentals were going to win the game. Kudos to the kids, because that’s what we’ve done all year. They came out here today and they executed. The guys believed in themselves. They checked off every goal and played their best at the end. Going in, I thought we had a shot. I knew we had the pitching. As the season went on, I thought we could do it on offense. The offense came to life with timely hits. Just what I hoped we’d do.

“Personally, it’s exciting. I knew what I feels like to win as a player. It’s great that these kids got to experience what I experienced.

Sanders was dominant on the mound, pitching a four-hitter with four strikeouts and just one walk.

“That was gutsy,” Ridlon said. “That was pure domination. (Zak) threw a lot of strikes and his location was excellent. Zak showed up as a leader .He’s a competitor. I think he’s the best competitor I’ve ever coached and when you have a performance like that in a state championship game, that’s guts. You can’ teach that.”

Sanders also had three hits at the plate for the Red Storm, which also got two from Archambault.

Looking ahead

Eight players graduate from the program, including some of the team’s most clutch performers, but plenty of talent will return in 2025 and Scarborough can justifiably entertain repeat hopes.

“That senior group left it all out there,” said Ridlon. “Only Harrison Griffiths is playing in college (at Bentley University). The rest of them played their last game. I told them to go out and take it and they did. I’m so proud of them.

“We’ll feel confident next year, but it’s all about the process and the result. Hopefully like this team, we’ll just get better.”

Press Herald staff writer Drew Bonifant and Kennebec Journal staff writer Mike Mandell contributed to this story.