BANGOR – Junior righthander Chris Sargent assumed he’d need his best stuff in Thursday’s Eastern Maine Class C championship baseball game against defending champ Mattanawcook Academy.

As assumptions go, it was a real solid one to make. After all, the last two times the Lynx of Lincoln and Sargent’s George Stevens Academy Eagles got together in a regional title game, the outcome was decided by a single run – something that’s usually scarce when these teams get together in the playoffs.

Well, in a way offense was still scarce on a balmy, bright and beautiful afternoon at Mansfield Stadium, but the scarcity was all Mattanawcook’s as Sargent kept it simple, went exclusively with a fastball and hard-biting curve, and threw a five-inning no-hitter as his Eagles triumphed 11-0.

Sargent’s eyes must have gotten as big as saucers after watching his Eagles go out and rough up Mattanawcook pitching for five runs in the first inning.

“I could see the adrenaline was really pumping for him so I told him to just go out and challenge them and throw strikes,” said GSA coach Dan Kane, whose 18-2 Eagles will meet West champ Jay in a 5 p.m. state championship game Saturday at Saint Joseph’s College in Standish. “I just said, ‘Make them string some hits together and don’t give them any walks.’ ”

Except for a one-out walk issued in the second inning to MA’s Tyler Libbey – who was then erased from the bases via GSA second baseman Jed Garvey’s play-of-the-week, diving stab of a sharp grounder up the middle – Sargent followed his coach’s instructions to the letter.

“I knew I just had to throw some more strikes and just get outs … fly balls, ground balls, anything,” Sargent said. “All I threw today were fastballs and curves. I don’t think I threw one changeup.”

Garvey helped out in a big way by diving to his right and snaring the grounder, lunging at second for the tag and then springing up and rifling a throw to first to complete the highlight reel double play.

“My location was the big key for me today,” said Sargent. “I’ve never had a no-hitter before in high school. I think the only other one I might have had was in eighth grade … Maybe.”

Sargent (7-1) threw 38 of 63 pitches for strikes while notching five strikeouts, one walk, and nothing else. The only other blight on his sterling scorebook line was a fourth inning wild pitch which allowed Fred Pete to become the only Lynx player to advance as far as third base all day. Then again, Pete was also the only Lynx to get to reach second.

“It’s pretty tough to win a no-hitter. It makes it pretty tough when you can’t sit on any pitches. It’s almost not fair,” said coach Greg Reed, whose Lynx wind up 18-2. “He’s by far the best pitcher we’ve seen.”

Offense was no problem for the Eagles as they took advantage of two early errors and plated five runs on just two hits in the first. After Jake Lowell made it 6-0 in the second on a two-out RBI single to right center, the Eagles piled on five more runs in the fourth to seal the deal.

The big hits in the fourth were Lowell’s two-run single with one out and Chris Candage’s two-run single with two out.

“I was just glad we got some runs because once we start hitting, it gets contagious. This was more like the way we were hitting in the regular season,” said Lowell, a senior who finally got to sample the taste of victory in a regional final after two straight losses. “After those losses, it feels great to finally get the trophy. It really means a lot.”

EAGLES 11, LYNX 0

(Thursday Afternoon, 5 innings)

Mattanawcook (18-2) George Stevens (18-2)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Dupuis, rf 2 0 0 0 Clapp, ss 2 2 0

Kites, lf 2 0 0 0 Garvey, 2b 2 2 0

Pete, c 2 0 0 0 Reuter, rf 3 2 1

Lasko, dh 2 0 0 0 Sargent, p 3 2 1

Gardner, cf 0 0 0 0 Lowell, lf 2 2 3

Libbey, 1b 1 0 0 0 Hutchins, 1b 2 0 1

Malone, 3b 2 0 0 0 Yurchick, dh 2 1 1

McLellan, 2b 2 0 0 0 Cousins, 3b 0 0 0

Whitney, p 1 0 0 0 Candage, c 3 0 2

Cousineau, ss 1 0 0 0 a-Freedman 0 0

Astbury, cf 3 0 0 0

Henry, cf 0 0 0 0

Totals 15 0 0 0 Totals 22 11 7 9

a-ran for Candage in the fourth

Mattanawcook Academy 000 00 ? 0

George Stevens Academy 510 5x ? 11

E?Kites 2, Libbey; Cousins; LOB?Mattanawcook 1; GSA 4; 2B?Garvey; DP?Garvey-Hutchins; SB?Clapp, Lowell, Freedman, Yurchick

Mattanawcook IP H R ER BB SO

Whitney (L,4-2) 3 1/3 6 10 8 3 2

Berry 2/3 1 1 1 1 1

George Stevens IP H R ER BB SO

Sargent (W,7-1) 5 0 0 0 1 5

HBP?Hutchins by Whitney; WP?Sargent; T?1:23; ATT?500 (est.)