The South Portland Puffins peaked at the right time.
The first-year Puffins used an 11-hit attack to beat the Bangor Babes 8-4 in the Greater Northeast Collegiate Baseball League championship game at Thomas College in Waterville on Saturday afternoon.
The Babes were seeking a second consecutive title in their two-year existence.
“It was amazing to win it last year and awesome to get back to the championship game this year,” Babes general manager Colton Albertson said. “I would have liked to have had another ring but summer baseball is about development and 95 percent of our players developed.”
Gorham’s Josh Polchies, who is going to be a freshman at the University of Southern Maine, and Cape Elizabeth’s Gabe Harmon, who will be a sophomore at Babson College in Massachusetts, each had a double and a single. Harmon also had a sacrifice fly and drove in two runs and Polchies had one RBI.
Polchies scored three runs and Harmon scored once.
South Portland pitchers Keeler Vogt, Jameson Bryant and Jeremiah Chessie combined on a five-hitter and struck out 16 Babes and the Puffins turned two double plays behind them.
“We just couldn’t get the bats ringing,” Albertson said.
The Babes committed four errors leading to four unearned runs.
The game was tied 4-4 entering the seventh when the Puffins took the lead for good with three runs.
Grady Hotham drew a one-out walk and Derek Martin followed with a single.
Polchies singled in a run and another scored when an outfield error was made on the play.
Harmon capped the rally with a sacrifice fly.
The Puffins added an insurance run in the ninth on Gus Hollen’s single and Tyler Simmons’ double.
Harmon’s run-scoring double staked South Portland to a 1-0 lead in the first but Bangor responded with two runs in the bottom of the first on Chris Gaudio’s run-scoring single and Brendan Mahaney’s sacrifice fly.
South Portland built a 4-2 lead on single runs in the third, fourth and sixth innings.
Polchies doubled and scored on an error in the third; David Swift doubled and scored on Hollen’s sacrifice fly in the fourth and Harmon singled and eventually scored on Zach Syvertson’s single in the sixth.
Bangor tied it in the bottom of the sixth when Brendan Mahaney walked and Brody Walsh from Chesterville and Thomas College belted a two-run homer to left.
Bryant earned the win while Grady Vanidestine absorbed the loss.
In addition to Walsh and Gaudio, Logan Keller, T.J. Llerena and Mahaney had the other hits for Bangor, all singles.
South Portland finished at 8-11 including a 13-7 win over Waterville 13-7 in the quarterfinals and a 5-2 victory over Old Orchard Beach in the semifinals.
Bangor received a bye in the quarterfinals and beat Augusta 6-3 in the semifinals. The Babes finished up at 10-7-1.
The championship game was supposed to be played in the Bangor area because the Babes were the higher seed, but Albertson explained that there were no fields available so it was moved to Thomas College.
