READFIELD — No matter the year or the cast of players, the Monmouth Academy baseball team always seems to find itself playing for a regional title.
On Saturday, the Mustangs earned a spot in yet another Class C South final — and they did it in impressive fashion.
Third-seeded Monmouth defeated second-seeded Maranacook 10-1 in a semifinal showdown to clinch its eighth consecutive regional title game berth. The Mustangs will face No. 1 Mt. Abram (14-4) on Tuesday at St. Joseph’s College.
“It’s a mindset right now,” said Monmouth coach Eric Palleschi. “Our kids, they just refuse to lose; they hate losing more than they like winning, which is huge. They’re a hard-working group, and having been here before, they know what it takes to get there.”
HOW MONMOUTH DID IT
• The Mustangs (14-4) not only hit the ball well but managed to string their hits together. The visitors had four-hit, four-run frames in both the second and fourth innings before rounding out the scoring with two more runs on as many hits in the seventh.
• Kyle Lepage was dialed in on the mound, holding Maranacook (13-5) to just four hits in a six-strikeout, complete-game effort. The Black Bears’ only run came with two outs in the seventh inning.
“I just kept the ball low or high with a purpose, really,” Lepage said. “I don’t want them hitting the ball middle-middle.”
• The Mustangs played solid defense, committing zero errors in the field to Maranacook’s three.
WHAT IT MEANS
• Monmouth will look to reclaim the Class C South title after falling to Sacopee Valley in last year’s regional final. The Mustangs have won six straight games and outscored their past five opponents by a 54-5 margin.
• Maranacook had its nine-game winning streak snapped. Although the Mustangs were too much for the Black Bears on Saturday, a 13-win season and regional semifinal appearance is a solid building block for a team that relied heavily on underclassmen in 2025.
“It was great progress,” said Maranacook coach Eric Brown. “We’re losing a few seniors, but the future is bright for these guys, I think. It’s a matter of what they do between the ears sometimes. Today, we got off to a slow start and didn’t do some things between the ears.”
THEY SAID IT
“We’ve been working the last couple days on making sure we can hit the off-speed pitch and see it from the left side. We knew, whether it was (Noah) Longfellow or (River) Fallos, it was going to be from the left side, so we wanted to be prepared for that. The kids went up there with a plan, and they executed.” — Eric Palleschi
“All the credit in the world to (Monmouth); that team is fantastically coached by Palleschi. They have a bunch of talented guys who have the attitude that they’re never going to lose, and they bring it when they need to. … They put the bat on the ball, and they made things happen.” — Eric Brown
STATISTICAL LEADERS
• Monmouth: Kyle Lepage (WP, 7 IP, 6 K, 2 BB, ER; single), Bryce Fletcher (3 hits, RBI), Levi Laverdiere (2 singles, 4 RBI), Rory Foyt (2 singles), Zane Foyt (2 singles).
• Maranacook: River Fallos (4 IP, 3K, 2 ER; single), Noah Longfellow (LP, 3 IP, 4 K, 4 BB, 7 ER), Grant Walters (single, RBI).
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