BUCKSPORT – Foxcroft Academy senior Aaron Sutton admitted that he was “a little fooled” when Bucksport High School reliever Phil Harvey threw a 1-1 curve with the bases loaded and two outs in the top of the fifth inning in their Eastern Maine Class B crossover semifinal Saturday.

But Sutton grounded a two-run single to center that turned out to be the game-winning hit as the Northeast Division’s third-seeded Ponies earned their first berth in an Eastern Maine final since 1992 with an 8-6 Southeast Division triumph over the top-seeded Bucksport Golden Bucks.

Foxcroft will face Winslow in Wednesday’s 7 p.m. Eastern Final at Mansfield Stadium in Bangor. Both are 14-5 and third seeds. Bucksport finished 15-4.

“It was a really nice curve. I was a little bit out in front. I had to slow up a little bit, be nice and compact and put it right back through the middle,” said Sutton, who gave the Ponies an 8-3 lead at the time.

If ever there was a total team victory, this was it.

Six different Ponies had runs batted in and everyone in the starting lineup had at least one hit with the exception of Seth Gabarro, who walked three times.

“Everybody has been producing this year, not just one or two guys,” said Sutton.

Junior lefthander Jason Weymouth hurled 6 1/3 innings of eight-hit baseball to pick up his fifth win in seven decisions. He allowed six runs but just three were earned. He struck out 10 and walked five while throwing 146 pitches, 87 for strikes.

Rob Crocker got the final two outs for his first save of the season.

“I pitched an OK game but if it wasn’t for our bats. …,” said Weymouth. “We stepped up when we needed to.”

Weymouth said his curve “worked really well compared to the rest of the season. And my fastball was cutting outside perfectly.”

After being nicked for a pair of unearned runs in the first on RBI singles by Abram Allard and Kyle Mercer, he frustrated the Bucks until Mercer belted a two-run homer with one out in the seventh.

He limited the Bucks to three hits in 15 at-bats with men on base from the second inning on.

“He kept the ball outside and spotted the ball very well. He kept the ball low so we couldn’t hit the ball in the air or hit line drives,” said Bucksport senior shortstop Jason Harvey.

Foxcroft took the lead for good with five runs in the third. Brandon Coan grounded Andy Wentworth’s 0-2 knuckler to center for a leadoff single.

One out and a botched pitchout later, Danny White singled home Coan and Josh Withee pulled a two-run double to right-center.

“It was a fastball over the inside of the plate and I turned on it,” said Withee.

Chris Chambers and Crocker singled home the last two runs.

Allard singled home a run in the bottom of the third but the Ponies added three off reliever Phil Harvey in the fifth on Weymouth’s RBI single and Sutton’s base hit.

Jason Harvey tripled home a run with no outs in the bottom of the fifth but was stranded there.

Chambers and Weymouth had two hits each for Foxcroft while Jason Harvey, Allard and Mercer had two each for Bucksport.

PONIES 8, BUCKS 6

Foxcroft (14-5) Bucksport (15-4)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

White, ss 5 1 1 1 Sheehan, 3b 4 1 0

Withee, lf-cf 4 1 1 2 Chase, cf 4 0

Chambers, cf-3b 4 2 2 1 J. Harvey, ss 3 1

Gabarro, 1b 1 1 0 0 Allard, 2b 3 1 2

Crocker, 3b-p 4 0 1 1 Mercer, lf 4 3

Weymouth, p-lf 4 1 2 1 McHale, dh-p 3 0

Croan, c 3 1 1 0 Wentworth, p 0 0 0

Sutton, rf 3 0 1 2 Sullivan, 1b 3 0 0

Pelletier, 2b 2 1 1 0 Boober, c 3 0

Knight, rf 3 0 0 0

Totals 30 8 10 8 Totals 30 6 8 6

Foxcroft Academy 005 030 0 ?8

Bucksport 201 010 2 ? 6

E?Crocker, Chambers, Sutton; Chase 2, LOB?Foxcroft 8, Bucksport 8; 2B?Withee; 3B?J. Harvey; HR?Mercer (2); SB?Croan, Allard, Mercer

Foxcroft IP H R ER BB SO

Weymouth (W,5-2) 6 1/3 8 6 3 5 10

Crocker (S,1) 2/3 0 0 0 0 0

Home IP H R ER BB SO

Wentworth (L,5-1) 2 1/3 4 5 5 1 3

P. Harvey 2 1/3 5 3 3 2 2

McHale 2 1/3 1 0 0 3 3

PB?Croan 2; T?2:05; ATT?180 (est.)