Three programs long removed from the state championship game experience and one familiar entry will represent Eastern Maine in Saturday’s high school baseball finals.

The Brewer Witches, seeking their first state crown, will play in the Class A final for the first time in 20 years against defending state champion Deering of Portland. Game time is noon at Mahaney Diamond on the campus of Saint Joseph’s College in Standish.

The Gardiner Tigers, which won its only state title in 1947, will face Cape Elizabeth for the Class B crown at 11 a.m. at Mansfield Stadium in Bangor.

The Searsport Vikings will make their third straight trip to the Class C final and are seeking their second state title during that span against Livermore Falls at 5 p.m. from Standish.

The Katahdin Cougars of Stacyville, who shut out Waynflete of Portland 2-0 in their last state championship game in 1993, will take on Rangeley in the Class D matchup at 4 p.m. at Mansfield Stadium.

In Class A, Brewer (17-2) may not have played in a state final since 1988, but the Witches have been consistent contender in Eastern A – reaching the regional final in three of the last five years.

“Brewer has a great tradition in baseball, right from the farm league up through,” said coach Dave Morris. “We have a lot of fine baseball players, and we’re really excited and proud to be representing them and to represent those teams in the past that I’ve been fortunate to be around that worked hard but just weren’t able to get this far.”

The Witches are led by captains Caleb Smith, Prentiss Swett, Shun Sasaki and Greg Higgins, four of the six seniors on the roster.

Smith and Sasaki anchor the Brewer defense at shortstop and center field, while first baseman Swett teams with sophomore leftfielder Eric White and junior catcher Jon Thoms in the middle of the batting order. Higgins has been the mainstay of a pitching staff that also includes junior Chase Daniels and White.

Higgins (9-0) earned the win in Brewer’s 7-3 victory over Hampden Academy in Tuesday’s Eastern Maine final, while Daniels (6-1) has emerged as the team’s No. 2 starter.

Deering (20-0) returns several key players from the 2007 team that defeated Bangor in the state final. Taylor Candage (9-0) is the Rams? top pitcher, while leading hitters include Matt Watson, Jack Heary and Regan Flaherty, back after missing much of the season while recovering from ACL surgery.

In Class B, Gardiner (16-3) dominated the Eastern Maine playoffs, outscoring three opponents by a combined 30-4 and won both their semifinal and final in games shortened by the 10-run rule.

“Our team’s grown up a lot over the year,” said coach Jim Palmer. “We had a lot of young kids coming in who had never played varsity. They’d all played Babe Ruth and had success in Babe Ruth, but they’ve come a long way since the season started.”

Gardiner’s offense features Gatorade player of the year and Mr. Baseball finalist Kyle Stilphen, a shortstop who ended the Tigers’ 13-0 victory over Old Town in the EM final with a grand slam in the bottom of the fifth. Other leading hitters include third baseman Mike Abbott and senior left fielder Roland Kennerson.

Senior Mike LaVallee likely will get the pitching start against Cape Elizabeth.

In Class C, Searsport (16-3) is within one step of achieving all of its clearly defined goals for the season.

“We had four goals,” said senior pitcher-shortstop Tom Cameron, “to get a 1 or 2 seed to get as many home games as we could, which we did, to go to the Eastern Maines, which we did, to win the Eastern Maines, which we did, and to win the states. So far it’s been three out of four.”

Coach Dave Pepin’s Vikings are led by the senior leadership of Cameron, Casey Ashey and Nate Adams, who also were pivotal figures in Searsport’s state final appearances in 2006 and 2007.

Last year’s final resulted in a 7-3, 10-inning loss to Saint Dominic of Auburn, leaving the Vikings anxious to reverse that outcome against a Livermore Falls team seeking its first state crown since defeating Searsport in the 1999 final.

“We’re looking to rebound from last year,” said Ashey. “But this group of seniors has been so fortunate. I couldn’t ask for more, to get to go as far as you possibly can each year for the last three years.”

In Class D, Katahdin’s roster suggests the new Eastern Maine champs may have arrived at the state final a year early, with outfielder-pitcher Thomas Anderson the lone senior.

Ask the 16-1 Cougars, and they’ll say they’re right on schedule.

“We’ve got a lot of good players on this team,” said pitcher-infielder Josh Guiggey, one of 10 juniors on coach Marty McCarthy’s club. “We’ve got a lot of guys on the bench who are just as good as the guys who start.”

The Cougars scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh to outlast defending state champ Deer Isle-Stonington 11-10 in the semifinals, then used a 15-strikeout, one-hitter by ace righthander Andy Kay to defeat Southern Aroostook 3-0 in Wednesday’s EM final.

Katahdin’s lineup features Guiggey, Kay, catcher Evan McCarthy and outfielder Ethan Qualey. Guiggey or McCarthy may see pitching duty against Rangeley, which lost to Deer Isle-Stonington 11-2 in last year’s championship game.

eclark@bangordailynews.net

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