BANGOR – The Winslow baseball team has experienced some tough losses since winning its last Eastern Maine Class B crown in 1997 – including four in regional championship games.

That run of frustration ended Tuesday, as the second-seeded Black Raiders parlayed four unearned runs into a 4-2 victory over top-ranked Bucksport in the Eastern B final at Mansfield Stadium.

“We needed one for this program, for these boys,” said Winslow coach Robin Weed, whose team will play Greely of Cumberland Center for the state title at 5 p.m. Saturday at Saint Joseph’s College in Standish.

“They’ve come up short in football and hockey, and last year we came up short in baseball. I’m so happy for them because it’s their team. I just steer the boat, but it’s their team and I’m just very happy for them.”

The win avenged a 7-6, eight-inning loss to Bucksport in last year’s title game, but did not come without some late angst.

Not until reliever Justin Lindie recorded back-to-back strikeouts with a run in and the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh could the Black Raiders celebrate despite never trailing after scoring on a bases-loaded walk to Steve Siviski in the top of the first.

“It was tough,” said Lindie. “I was getting jittery. I was having some control problems, but my defense came up and said, ‘You can do it. Take your time. Throw strikes. Let them hit ball, we’ve got your back.’ I just slowed everything down in the windup, taking my time trying to throw strikes.”

Winslow (16-3) persevered as Lindie and starter Kevin McCabe combined to limit a Bucksport offense that entered the game with a .366 team batting average to four hits, and by making the big plays.

Left fielder Chris Raymond set the defensive tone for Winslow, snaring a sinking liner by Maguire along the line to deny Bucksport an early run after Eddie Robbins hit a one-out double in the first.

The Black Raiders stretched their lead to 3-0 in the sixth when Robbins couldn’t handle a two-out fly to center by John Goulette, enabling Siviski and pinch-runner Ben Grant to score.

“I don’t know if the kid took his eye off it or the sun played into the play or not,” said Weed, “but it glanced off his glove and we got those two easy runs. That was crucial because I think it put pressure on those guys because they were down by three runs.”

Bucksport (16-3) closed within 3-1 in the bottom of the inning. Cam Wadleigh singled to center, went to second on a sacrifice by Freeman and to third on a fielder’s choice grounder by Steve Klenowski before scoring on a passed ball.

Derek Fish then singled, but Klenowski was cut down at the plate on the play. The throw from right fielder James Wood to catcher Chris Brawn was short and up the third-base line, but when Klenowski tried to slide around Brawn he was unable to touch the plate before Brawn reached back to make the tag.

“If they scored there they would have been up momentum-wise,” said Weed, “but my catcher stayed with it.”

Winslow added a run in the seventh when Brendan Weed reached on a throwing error by Fish and later scored on a suicide squeeze down the first-base line by Kevin McCabe.

“We executed well on the suicide squeeze, but they beat it by half a step,” said Bucksport coach Tiger Stewart. “We had a runner cut down at the plate, and again, it was half a step. They made things go their way today, and it wasn’t by lack of effort on our part. Today was their day, just like a year ago on this field it was our day, the bounces went our way.”

Matt Jackson singled to lead off the Bucksport seventh, and Lindie then hit three batters as the Golden Bucks pushed across a run and had the bases loaded with one out. But Lindie struck out the final two batters he faced to earn the save.

Chris Maguire (7-2) pitched well for Bucksport, tossing a five-hitter with seven strikeouts and five walks.

“He kept us right in the game the whole way,” said Stewart. “We just didn’t come up with the big hit.”

BLACK RAIDERS 4, GOLDEN BUCKS 2

Winslow (16-3) Bucksport (16-3)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Lindie, ss-p 3 1 0 0 Jackson, ss 3 0 0

Weed, 2b 3 1 1 0 Robbins, cf 4 0 0

Brawn, c 4 0 2 0 Maguire, p 3 0 0

Couturier, dh 4 0 1 0 Wadleigh, c 3 1

Wood, rf 0 0 0 0 Wood, pr 0 0 0

Sc. Siviski, pr 0 0 0 0 Freeman, rf 3 0

McCabe, p-ss 3 0 0 1 P. Dedmon, lf 2 0 0

St. Siviski, 3b 2 1 0 1 Klenowski, dh 3 0

Loubier, 1b 4 0 1 0 Bisher, 1b 0 0 0

Grant, pr 0 1 0 0 Fish, 3b 1 0 0

Raymond, lf 3 0 0 0 Cooke, 2b 2 1 0

Goulette, cf 3 0 0 0

Totals 29 4 5 2 Totals 24 2 4 1

Winslow 100 002 1 – 4

Bucksport 000 001 1 – 2

E-Lindie 2; Cooke, Robbins, Fish; LOB-Winslow 10, Bucksport 10; 2B-Robbins; S-Freeman; SB-Fish

Winslow IP H R ER BB SO

McCabe (W, 4-1) 4 1/3 1 0 0 4 2

Lindie (S, 1) 2 2/3 3 2 2 0 4

Bucksport IP H R ER BB SO

Maguire (L, 7-2) 7 5 4 0 5 7

HBP-Dedmon, Maguire, Wadleigh, Cooke (by Lindie); WP-McCabe; PB-Brawn; T-2:00; ATT-550 (est.)