BANGOR – In a game full of defensive gems, it was only fitting that a diving catch in the bottom of the seventh inning would turn out to be the play that preserved St. Dominic of Auburn’s 2-1 win over two-time defending state Class C champion Georges Stevens Academy of Blue Hill at the Mansfield Baseball Complex Saturday afternoon.

St. Dom’s junior righthander Brady Blackman pitched out of bases-loaded, no-outs jams in the first and third innings, allowing only one run, but was spared another potential jam in the seventh when left fielder Andy Allen robbed Blake Wessel of a leadoff double or triple with a diving over-the-shoulder catch.

“That was huge. That was the game right there,” said Blackman (8-1) in pitching the Saints to their first-ever state baseball championship and avenging last year’s 12-2 loss to GSA.

“I drifted in a little bit, saw it was going over my head and sprinted back as hard as I could,” said Allen. “I watched it all the way into my glove. I didn’t know if I was going to get it or not. I couldn’t do that again if you asked me to.”

“Those are the breaks of the game, I guess,” said Wessel, who turned in two highlight-reel plays himself with a 360-degree spin and throw, and a barehanded play.

Lefthander Dan Hilts was bidding to become one of the few schoolboy pitchers to pick up wins in three state championship games.

He threw an impressive six-hitter with four strikeouts and three walks, but had one bad inning, the third, when he issued two of his walks and both wild pitches as St. Dom’s scored both of its runs.

Blackman was superb, retiring 14 of the last 17 hitters he faced. He finished with a three-hitter, striking out seven and walking six while throwing 61 strikes among his 102 pitches.

He was great in the clutch as the Eagles went just 1-for-12 with men on base and 1-for-9 with men in scoring position.

“He was, by far, the best pitcher we’ve seen all year,” said GSA junior first baseman and leading hitter Collin Henry (.511 entering the game), who walked three times, twice intentionally, and struck out in four plate appearances. “We definitely hadn’t seen a slider like his all year. It looked just like a fastball and then it dipped a little.

“We had some chances early but we didn’t get it done,” added Henry.

“He was very clutch,” said Hilts.

“Everything was working today. I threw a lot of sliders. [When I got in trouble], I tried to keep the ball down and hit my spots,” said Blackman, who had a curve to go with his slider and 83-84 mph fastball.

Blackman said he felt great after pitching out of the third-inning jam.

“I had seen all of their hitters a couple of times and I knew what to expect. I hit my spots every inning from then on,” said Blackman.

Bob Blackman, Brady’s father and a Saints assistant, said “After the third inning, we decided to get away from the fastball, at least early in the count, and go with sliders and curves. It took us a while to figure out they had trouble with [breaking pitches].”

St. Dom’s took full advantage of Hilts’ one bad inning.

He walked the Nos. 8 and 9 hitters (Justin Fongemie and Peter Lewis) on eight pitches. Then two curves in the dirt went for wild pitches to score the first run and Jake Albert’s squeeze bunt over first baseman Henry’s head delivered the second one.

“There are two cardinal rules of bunting: Don’t bunt it back to the pitcher and don’t get it in the air. I broke the second one but it worked out for the best,” grinned Albert.

“I hadn’t had trouble getting my curve to drop over for strikes all year,” said Hilts, GSA’s lone senior. “The one time you don’t want it to happen, it happens. It will haunt me wherever I go.”

GSA had the bases loaded in the first but Blackman got a strikeout, a 6-2 fielder’s choice and a groundout to end it.

Two walks and a hit batter loaded the bases with no outs in the third and Ross Gallagher lined a single to left center to make it 2-1.

But second baseman Fongemie made a nice over-the-shoulder catch on Lance Gale’s popup and Blackman fanned the next two hitters.

Allen had two singles for 17-1 St. Dom’s and Gallagher had two for 15-5 GSA.

SAINTS 2, EAGLES 1

St. Dominic (17-1) George Stevens (15-5)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Albert, ss 4 0 1 1 Wessel, ss 4 0 0

Carpenter, c 2 0 0 0 Peake, cf 2 1 0

Rutt, cf 3 0 0 0 Henry, 1b 1 0 0

Blackman, p 3 0 1 0 Marks, c 3 0 0

Moreau, pr 0 0 0 0 Gallagher, rf 3 0 0

Emerson, 1b 3 0 1 0 Gale, rf 3 0 0

Cary, dh 3 0 0 0 Hilts, p 3 0 0

Griswold, 3b 0 0 0 0 Larry, 2b 3 0 0

Allen, lf 3 0 2 0 Astbury, 3b 2 0 0

Fongemie, 2b 1 1 0 0

Lewis, rf 2 1 1 0

Totals 24 2 6 1 Totals 24 1 3 0

St. Dominic 002 000 0 – 2

George Stevens Academy 001 000 0 – 1

E-Albert; LOB-St. Dominic 5, GSA 9; 2B-Lewis; DP-Blackman-Albert-Emerson; Henry (una.); S-Fongemie; SB-Albert; Peake 2

St. Dominic IP H R ER BB SO

Blackman (W,8-1) 7 3 1 1 6 7

GSA IP H R ER BB SO

Hilts (L,4-3) 7 6 2 2 3 4

HBP-Marks by Blackman; WP-Blackman, Hilts 2; T-1:46; ATT-450 (est.)