Sacopee Valley seniors Dylan Capano and Caleb Vacchiano came up clutch on Saturday, leading the No. 2 Hawks past No. 4 Bucksport 4-3 in the Class C baseball state title game at Mahaney Diamond in Orono.
Finding themselves down 2-0 entering the fifth inning, the South champion Hawks (16-4) finally managed to get to Bucksport ace Gavyn Holyoke, parlaying a Capano RBI-triple and a bases-loaded RBI-single from Vacchiano — the Maine Gatorade Player of the Year — to take a 4-2 lead and hold on for the win.
The three-time C North champion Golden Bucks fought back in the bottom of the fifth, promptly loading the bases and scoring on a squeeze play from senior Gunny Cyr.
Working with just one out, Sacopee escaped the jam on a wild 5-2-3-2 double play, getting a force out at home then and catching Bucksport stealing home after the throw to first.
“That play was huge,” Vacchiano said. “I knew that no matter what, we’d do what we had to do to win that game.”
Both Holyoke (seven hits, two walks, one earned run) and Capano (two hits, three walks, one earned run) went all seven innings, combining for 20 strikeouts. The game was a pitchers duel from the get-go, as the pair of southpaws faced the near-minimum through two.
“We were able to just grind through things. They had a good pitcher on the mound, and I wasn’t able to see the ball well today. But I had to come through for my guys with the bases loaded,” Vacchiano said. “[Capano]’s a dog. So gritty — nobody else I’d want to have on the mound.”
It was all Bucksport early on, taking advantage of Sacopee errors to score Holyoke (1-for-3) in the second and sophomore Trent Goss (one walk, 0-for-2) in the fourth.
The Bucks previously won it all in 2022, and were able to return to the state title game the past two years.
“I’m just so proud of those boys. What they’ve done for Bucksport baseball is bring it back to something really, really special,” third-year Bucksport head coach Josh Jackson said. “Three straight northern Maine championships is nothing to hold your head low on.”
