HERMON, Maine – The No. 3 Hermon High School Hawks advanced to the Class B North regional title game by shutting out the No. 10 Nokomis Warriors, 6-0, in their semifinal matchup on Saturday.
Zach Nash pitched a complete game shutout for the Hawks, giving up only three hits with no walks. Nash struck out seven Nokomis batters in the victory.
“He [Nash] was awesome. We told him to be on the attack from the start of the game, and that’s what he did,” said Hermon coach, Matt Kinney. “He didn’t fall behind a lot of guys. He didn’t give them free bases. That’s what you need.”
Matt Leach and Christian Greener each had two hits, a run scored and an RBI for Hermon. Henry Patten added a single and an RBI double, and Alex Applebee singled in the fifth inning. The Hawks were also helped by a number of Nokomis errors throughout the game.
“You can’t come to the playoffs and have eight errors,” said Nokomis coach, Jared Foster. “They took advantage of every single one of them, and they won today.”
Hermon and Nokomis did not meet in the regular season, and had only one common opponent entering the semifinal game on Saturday. Hermon beat No. 6 Waterville Senior High School, 13-6, in the quarterfinals. Nokomis lost to Waterville, 2-1, on May 3.
“I just emphasized with our guys to play our game,” said Kinney. “When you don’t see somebody, you can’t really focus on what they can or cannot do. You have to focus on what you can.”
Zach Hartsgrove recorded two hits for the Warriors. Cody Rice also singled.
Mike Massow gave up six hits and two walks while striking out two Hermon batters in five innings of the mound. Matt Dyer took over in the sixth inning for Nokomis, allowing two hits and two walks.
Nokomis advanced to the semifinal after beating No. 7 Foxcroft Academy in the preliminary round, 4-0, and upsetting No. 2 Winslow High School, 3-2, in the quarterfinals. The Warriors finished the regular season with a 9-7 record.
“This is a great team,” said Foster. “I’m only losing two seniors. We’re young, and next year we’re coming back full force.”
Hermon will face the No. 1 Old Town High School Coyotes in the regional final on Wednesday, June 15. The Coyotes beat No. 4 Erskine Academy, 3-1, in their semifinal game on Saturday, after Kaleb Gifford pitched a perfect quarterfinal game against No. 9 Belfast Area High School. Old Town won the quarterfinal matchup, 3-0.
Hermon and Old Town split the regular season series. Hermon handed the Coyotes their only loss of the year on May 3, 2-1. Old Town won the second meeting on May 17, 3-1.
“Both games were close. I think there was a total of seven runs scored in our games,” said Kinney. “We’ve just got to go out and execute, just like in any game. If we execute and do what we’re capable of doing we have a shot, just like anybody.”
The regional final will be played at Mansfield Stadium. The game is scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m.
