Mariners tip Panthers for state crown DI-S freshman earns win

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STANDISH – The everyday left fielder and inspirational leader was on this day a one-armed designated hitter. The starting pitcher was a 15-year-old freshman who has been the starting catcher. The starting catcher was a sophomore who never played the position until the last few weeks.

Doesn’t read like the recipe for a state championship, does it?

It does now.

Deer Isle-Stonington, which coped with injuries and lineup shuffling throughout the spring, made it all work one final time Saturday to win its first Class D baseball state title with a 3-2 victory over three-time defending champ North Yarmouth Academy at Saint Joseph’s College.

“I’ve never felt this good in my life,” said junior third baseman Josh Eaton.

Deer Isle-Stonington (15-3) entered this game as the underdog against an NYA team hardened in the ways of championship baseball.

That didn’t matter to the Mariners, particularly right-hander Collin Ciomei, who was pitching in junior high at this time last year. The youngest of three Ciomei brothers on the roster defied his lack of big-game experience to work out of a first-inning jam and no-hit the Panthers into the sixth inning.

“I was really nervous the first inning,” said Ciomei, who pitched a three-hitter with two strikeouts and four walks. “I knew I was going to have a shaky one, and I walked a couple of people, but I knew if I got through it with no runs or hits I would pitch well the whole game.”

Ciomei was backed by an errorless defense featuring Eaton, shortstop Bryant Ciomei and catcher Ben Hardie, a middle infielder until midway through the season.

Hardie threw out two NYA runners on the basepaths, and teamed with Collin Ciomei to cut down a runner trying to score on a short passed ball in the first inning.

“We had a lot of respect for Collin,” said Eaton. “We knew if he could keep focused and throw his game, we could keep it together on the defensive end.”

Deer Isle-Stonington managed just five hits off NYA righthander Tim DeLuca, but two came from senior Nick Ciomei, who dislocated his left shoulder in the Eastern Maine final and was a definite question mark entering Saturday’s game.

Instead, he hit the first pitch of the game into left field for a single, and added another single in the fifth, when the Mariners took a 2-0 lead.

“We were worried about if we could hit this guy, because we’d been told he was one of the best out here,” Nick Ciomei said. “When I got that first hit, I think it boosted the team, seeing that we weren’t losing another batter and our offense was going to be fine.”

Iain Martin led off the Deer Isle-Stonington fifth by hitting a spinner off the end of his bat that NYA’s Charlie Fear couldn’t handle down the first-base line. Pinch runner Ethan Pinkham reached second on a swinging bunt by Hardie, and went to third when Nick Ciomei went to the opposite field for his second hit.

Collin Ciomei hit a sacrifice fly to left to plate Pinkham, and Nick Ciomei scored from second when Rob Brown singled to right on a 3-2 pitch.

What proved to be the winning run came in unconventional fashion an inning later. Thomas Robbins reached first on a fielder’s choice and stole second, but overran third base and slipped on a groundout by Jon Eaton.

Robbins was caught in a rundown, but was awarded home when interference was called on an NYA defender who obstructed Robbins’ path back to third base.

“To be honest, I thought there were already two outs, so I was just running it out,” said Robbins. “Then I saw them keep playing, and I’m like ‘Oh, God,’ so I went to go back to third and got in a rundown, and fortunately for me their guy was in the baseline. I was going to make a slide, and he was in my direct path. We both met and I tried to get through him, and fortunately they saw what happened and made the call.”

“It was a tough call at the end of the game, but you can’t focus the outcome of a game on one call,” added NYA coach Bruce Poliquin. “The umpires did a great job in this game, and that was the call they made and that’s the end of it. But it was a tough one at a tough time, I’ll be the first to say that.”

MARINERS 3, PANTHERS 2

DI-Stonington (15-3) North Yarmouth (11-7)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

N. Ciomei, dh 4 1 2 0 Pierce, cf 3 0

Garcia, lf 0 0 0 0 DeLuca, p 2 0 1

C. Ciomei, p 3 0 1 1 Kroot, c 3 0 1

Brown, cf 3 0 1 1 Lynch, ss 1 0 0

B. Ciomei, ss 3 0 0 0 Maybury, lf 3 0

Jos. Eaton, 3b 2 0 0 0 Stoddard, dh 3 0

Robbins, rf 2 1 0 0 Hamilton, rf 0 0 0

Jon Eaton, 1b 3 0 1 0 Engel, 2b 3 0

Martin, 2b 3 0 0 0 Geiger, 3b 1 1 0

Pinkham, pr 0 1 0 0 People, pr 0 0 0

Hardie, c 3 0 0 0 Fear, 1b 2 1 0

Totals 26 3 5 2 Totals 21 2 3 2

Deer Isle-Stonington 000 021 0 – 3

North Yarmouth Acad. 000 002 0 – 2

E-Fear; LOB-DI-Stonington 5, NYA 4; SF-C. Ciomei; SB-Robbins 2, N. Ciomei, Brown; Lynch, DeLuca, Kroot

DI-Stonington IP H R ER BB SO

C. Ciomei (W,3-1) 7 3 2 2 4 2

North Yarmouth IP H R ER BB SO

DeLuca (L,5-3) 7 5 3 1 0 6

HBP-Robbins, Eaton by DeLuca; Lynch, Fear by C. Ciomei; WP-C. Ciomei; DeLuca; T-1:40; ATT-250