BANGOR – At 5-foot-4, Daniel Hilts doesn’t strike an opposing presence on the mound.

But never let physical appearance be confused with mental toughness.

The sophomore lefthander from Surry, pitching for the first time in three weeks after dislocating three ribs, threw a four-hit shutout at Mansfield Stadium on Monday as George Stevens Academy edged Jay 2-0 to win its first state Class C baseball title since 1997.

Hilts relied mostly on his curve – the pitch he was throwing earlier in the season when he dislocated the ribs and stretched the surrounding muscle – and an errorless defense to keep the Tigers off-balance in this rematch of the 2002 final won by Jay.

Just as importantly for GSA, he wasn’t fazed by the significance of the game, particularly given his relative rustiness.

“I really wasn’t nervous today,” said Hilts. “I was more nervous [Sunday] night. I just tried to hit my spots and be effective with the curveball to set up the fastball.”

“For only being a sophomore and a little tiny guy, he’s had an awful lot of experience,” added GSA coach Dan Kane. “He’s pitched in championship games in junior high and in summer ball. I thought emotionally he’d be able to handle it, and he was.”

Hilts (3-0) threw 88 pitches in a complete-game effort, striking out five batters and walking four.

“At the time Daniel went out, he was one of our most dominating pitchers,” said Kane. “Today he didn’t even have his best stuff, but he located his pitches well enough, got their batters out on their front foot, got some easy pop-fly outs and got them to top a few balls. He gave us a good opportunity to win today, and our defense did the job behind him.”

Hilts needed to come up big, because he was matched against Jay standout Josh Armandi, a University of Southern Maine-bound righthander who carried an 8-0 record into the game and was the winning pitcher in last year’s state final.

But the 18-2 Eagles, buoyed by the experience of facing Armandi a year ago, reached him for their only two hits and the game’s only runs in the bottom of the first inning.

Mike Astbury drew a leadoff walk and moved to second on Nick Henry’s sacrifice. Mark Clapp then drove the first pitch he saw deep to left field. Jay outfielder Shawn Jacques initially broke in, but the ball sailed over his head for an RBI double. Clapp scored the second run one out later when Chris Sargent singled sharply past Jay third baseman Brandon Purrington.

“Walks will kill you,” said Armandi. “You want to get the leadoff guy out, but sometimes your luck doesn’t go the way you want, and then some of the balls they hit could have been outs.”

Jay mustered two scoring threats against Hilts. Armandi singled to lead off the fourth and went to second on a wild pitch. Zach Charles then grounded sharply to Sargent at third base, and he was able to catch Armandi off second, starting a brief rundown that ended with Armandi being called out of the baseline.

This game’s moment of decision came an inning later. Joel Ouellette fisted a leadoff single to left and reached third base on a pair of wild pitches. Ryan DiPompo drew a one-out walk, then Hilts got Jacob Turner to pop out – bringing up Armandi, already with two hits.

With runners on first and third, Kane opted to intentionally walk Armandi and bring Charles to the plate with two outs and the bases loaded.

The strategy worked to perfection. Charles grounded a 1-0 pitch to Sargent, and he stepped on third base for the inning-ending forceout.

It was a gut feeling,” Kane said. “I really felt [Armandi] was the big hitter in the lineup and knew he had done the damage in the playoffs prior to this. I thought I’d put the pressure on somebody else to come up with the big hit and it paid off for us; my third baseman makes a big play instead.”

EAGLES 2, TIGERS 0

Jay (14-6) George Stevens (18-2)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

DiPompo, cf 3 0 0 0 Astbury, lf 2 1 0

Turner, ss 4 0 0 0 N. Henry, cf 2 0 0

Armandi, p 2 0 2 0 Clapp, ss 2 1 1

Charles, rf 3 0 0 0 Cousins, 2b 2 0 0

Nelson, 1b 2 0 0 0 Sargent, 3b 3 0 1

A. Ouellette, c 1 0 0 0 Candage, dh 3 0

Purrington, 3b 3 0 0 0 Hilts, p 0 0

J. Ouellette, dh 3 0 1 0 Hines, c 1 0

Farrington 2b 0 0 0 0 Harmon, 1b 1 0

Jacques lf 3 0 1 0 C. Henry, 1b 0 0 0

Conroy, rf 2 0 0 0

Totals 24 0 4 0 Totals 18 2 2 2

Jay 000 000 0 ? 0

George Stevens 200 000 x ? 2

E?Jacques, Nelson; LOB?Jay 7, George Stevens 4; 2B?Clapp; 3B?Armandi; S?A. Ouellette; Henry, Cousins; SB?Astbury

Jay IP H R ER BB SO

Armandi (L, 8-1) 6 2 2 2 3 7

George Stevens IP H R ER BB SO

Hilts (W, 3-0) 7 4 0 0 4 5

HBP?Hines by Armandi; WP?Armandi; Hilts 3; T?1:38; ATT?800 (est.)