BANGOR – While Ashland’s batters couldn’t solve Deer Isle-Stonington pitcher Collin Ciomei, the Mariners’ batters weren’t puzzled in the least Tuesday night.

The veteran-laden, third-seeded Mariners combined a potent lineup with a solid start by Ciomei to jump on top seed Ashland early and never look back on the way to a six-inning, 13-3 Eastern Maine Class D regional championship baseball victory at Mansfield Stadium.

The 17-2 Mariners take on West champ Waynflete of Portland in a noon state title game Saturday at Saint Joseph’s College in Standish. Ashland winds up 14-4.

Ciomei was virtually untouchable after giving up a single and walk to the first two batters. Meanwhile, he and the rest of the Mariners hitters pounded out hits up and down the lineup and scored runs in each of the first three innings.

Ciomei earned the win with three innings of two-hit shutout ball. He was also 3-for-4 with a double, two singles, a run and three RBIs.

“Usually my first inning’s a little shaky and then I get it done later on,” said Ciomei. “My fastball’s my best pitch by far. Usually my curveball’s a good out pitch for me. I just tried to pound the zone with my fastball first pitch and then go inside-outside.”

Even when he wasn’t getting it done, his fielders were. Leadoff single hitter (Tyler Cote) was caught stealing by senior catcher Jon Eaton, who had a great game behind the plate. The second batter who drew the walk (Carl Nemer) was cut down on a fielder’s choice grounder. Oh, and then the runner who reached on the fielder’s choice was thrown out at second by Eaton.

While the Mariners’ fielders were cleaning the bases of Ashland runners, the Mariners’ hitters – especially those in the lower third of the order – were the ones cleaning DI-S runners off the bases. Ethan Pinkham, the No. 8 hitter, had a double and three singles with three runs and four RBIs in four at-bats. The junior right fielder and pitcher credited a simple hitting strategy for his success.

“If you see a first-pitch fastball, we wanted to rip it. We figured we had three strikes, so why not use ’em?,” said Pinkham, who also earned a save with three innings of three-hit relief. “We knew what was coming from watching him in warmups, so we tried to sit on his fastball.”

The Nos. 6-9 batters went a combined 11-for-15 (.733) with five RBIs for the Mariners.

“All the talk this year was about Deer Isle-Stonington, and they have a great team,” said Ashland coach Daniel Cote. “One through nine, that’s a very solid team with great hitting and great pitching.”

After scoring a run in the first on an RBI single by Bryant Ciomei, Collin’s brother, the Mariners got four more in the second, two on a triple to left by Bryant Ciomei. They added three in the third on doubles by Ray Garcia (3-for-4), Pinkham and Eben Powers.

“What got us through this point all year long was being aggressive,” said DI-S coach Darren Eaton. “Our seniors know how to get it done and we like to jump on people early.”

Three more DI-S runs came in the fifth via three straight singles and a two-run double by Collin Ciomei. Pinkham’s two-run single in the sixth capped the scoring.

Kevin Baker led the Hornets with two singles, a run and an RBI in two at-bats. He also walked. The other two runs came via a DI-S throwing error in the fourth.

MARINERS 13, HORNETS 3

(6 innings)

DI-Stonington (17-2) Ashland (14-4)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

C. Ciomei, p-rf 4 1 3 3 Cote, p-ss 3 0

Brown, cf 4 1 0 0 Nemer, cf 2 0 0

B. Ciomei, 2b 4 0 3 3 Tarr, ss-p 3 0

J. Eaton, c 3 0 0 0 Baker, rf 2 1 1

S. Eaton, 1b 4 0 0 0 Milligan, 2b 2 1 0

Garcia, lf 4 3 3 0 Ward, lf 3 0 0

Hardie, ss 4 2 2 0 Baker, dh 3 0 0

Pinkham, rf-p 4 3 4 4 Gimbel, 3b 0 0

Powers, 3b 3 3 2 1 J. Belanger, 1b 2 0 0

Hafford, ph 1 0 0 0

L. Belanger, c 2 0 0 0

Totals 34 13 17 11 Totals 23 3 5 1

Deer Isle-Stonington 143 032 – 13

Ashland 000 210 – 3

E-B. Ciomei, Hardie; Nemer, Gimbel; LOB-DI-S 5; Ashland 5; 2B-C. Ciomei, Garcia 2, Pinkham; 3B-B. Ciomei; SB-B. Ciomei

DI-Stonington IP H R ER BB SO

C. Ciomei (W) 3 2 0 0 2 3

Pinkham (S) 3 3 3 1 1 4

Ashland IP H R ER BB SO

Cote (L) 2 2/3 7 7 3 0 1

Tarr 3 1/3 10 6 5 1 2

HBP-Powers (by Cote); WP-Pinkham 2; PB-L. Belanger 2; T-1:28; ATT-300 (est.)