BANGOR- Searsport District High School had quite a Saturday on the diamond. After their softball won the state championship earlier in the day over Ashland, the baseball team did their thing by winning their fifth Class D state crown of the last six played in an 8-4 victory over Machias at Mansfield Stadium in Bangor.
The Vikings never trailed and opened the scoring in the top of the first inning when Sam Cahill walked with one out, stole second, and scored on a two out double by Cody Reynolds. Machias came right back in the bottom half with three straight hits on a leadoff single by Ethan Foss, a single to left by Jayden Rhodes, and an RBI single to right center by Kyle Anderson to make it 1-1. Sarting pitcher Reynolds though retired Kashman Feeney, Shane Feeney, and Brandyn Holland to limit the damage. Searsport had a chance to blow the game open in the top of the third. Gage Ellis led off with a walk, and then Nate Ashey singled. Cahill laid down a sacrifice bunt, but Bulldogs pitcher K. Feeney threw the ball over the head of the first baseman for an error that allowed Ellis to score from first base. Another walk to Cole Ellis set things up for Reynolds who slapped a two-run single to left center to up the lead to 4-1. A walk to Josh Wright loaded the bases again and ended the day on the mound for Feeney with still no outs. The game then would go into a 1 hour, 18 minute delay due to thunderstorms in the area.
After the delay, Rhodes came on to pitch in relief for Machias. He kept his team in the game by striking out Brady Clements, Chase Brassbridge, and Gabe Kneeland consecutively. After Reynolds had settled in on the hill retiring 15 of 16 batters at one point, the Vikings added on in the fifth. Reynolds led off with a walk, and Wright had an infield hit. With one out, Brassbridge delivered an RBI single and then pinch hitter Drew Bagley would reach when a fly ball to right field was dropped allowing Clements who had got on base via a fielders choice to score. Gage Ellis would deliver a two-run single to center and the advantage went to 8-1. The Bulldogs try to rally back in the sixth. Rhodes reached on an error to start it. The next two hitters were retired, but S. Feeney then nailed an RBI triple, Holland had an RBI infield single, and Kaiden Gaddis delivered an RBI double down the left field line to slice the margin to 8-4. Reynolds shut down the rally however when he got Caleb Norton swinging, and finished the complete game effort by just allowing a one out walk in the seventh.
Machias ends their season at 13-4, winning the North regional title and reaching the state title game for the first time in school history. K. Feeney took the loss on the mound allowing four runs (three earned) on three hits with five walks and two strikeouts in 2+ innings. Rhodes in relief allowed four runs on three hits with one walk and six strikeouts in 5.0 innings. Foss reached base three times with a single and two walks. Rhodes, Anderson, S. Feeney, Holland, and Gaddis also each had one hit. Reynolds had two hits and three RBI to lead the winners from Searsport (10-10). He also got the pitching win allowing four runs (one earned) on six hits with two walks and seven strikeouts in 7.0 innings. Ashey, Wright, Brassbridge, and G. Ellis had one hit each as well. Along with five of the last six (2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2021), they also made it back to back state titles as they won the last one that was played in 2019.
SEA (10-10) 1 0 3 0 4 0 0- 8 6 1
MAC (13-4) 1 0 0 0 0 3 0- 4 6 2
Winning pitcher- Cody Reynolds
Losing pitcher- Kashman Feeney
Singles- SEARSPORT- Ashey (1), Wright (1), Brassbridge (1), G. Ellis (1) Doubles- Reynolds (2) Singles- MACHIAS- Foss (1), Rhodes (1), Anderson (1), Holland (1) Doubles- Gaddis (1) Triples- S. Feeney (1)
Stolen bases- SEARSPORT- Cahill (1), Bagley (1) MACHIAS- Anderson (1)
Left on base- Searsport 6, Machias 5
Photos by Chris Lessner- Class D Baseball State Championship June 19, 2021
