Maranacook baseball tops Monmouth in clash of C South contenders

The Black Bears avenge last year’s season-ending playoff loss to the Mustangs and snap Monmouth’s 11-game winning streak.

Maranacook’s Grady Hreben pitches to a Monmouth batter during Wednesday’s game in Monmouth. (Anna Chadwick/Staff Photographer) Purchase this image

MONMOUTH — Defending Class C baseball champion Monmouth Academy had looked untouchable early this season.

Coming off a defeat, Maranacook saw a matchup with a Mustangs team that hadn’t lost since last May as a chance to get back on track — and to get some revenge.

The Black Bears did, beating Monmouth 3-2 on Wednesday in a clash of Class C South contenders. The win marked a bounce-back from a 7-5 defeat Monday against Old Orchard Beach and avenged the Black Bears’ 10-1 loss to the Mustangs (3-1) in last year’s South semifinals.

“I’m at a loss for words; I was nervous right up until the final pitch,” said Maranacook coach Eric Brown. “Those guys are great on their side of the field, and it took every ounce of everything that we had to beat them. That just shows what a great team we’ve got over here.”

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Grady Hreben, a junior, was dealing for Maranacook (2-1), striking out six batters and allowing just four hits and two runs in six innings against a vaunted Monmouth lineup that scored 42 runs over its first three games.

“I just tried to hit spots and get up early with my fastball,” said Hreben, who pitched six innings before Caldre Glowa came on in the seventh to earn the save. “Those guys are a great team, and this is going to give us a lot of Heal points in the future, so we really wanted it.”

• Right-fielder Alex Spaulding made a remarkable throw to nail the Mustangs’ Jacob Harmon at home plate in the third inning, part of a performance in which Maranacook threw out three Monmouth runners trying to stretch for extra bases.

“That was probably the best throw I’ve ever seen at this level,” Brown said. “Jack Spellman throwing out a runner at second in the seventh after having a masterful game behind the plate, that was outstanding. They were all outstanding, all-around.”

WHAT IT MEANS

• Maranacook’s status as a Class C South contender hasn’t faded despite the loss at OOB. The Black Bears, who committed four errors in Monday’s setback, were much crisper in the field and got timely hits early against a solid pitcher, Monmouth’s Kyle LePage.

• Monmouth’s loss, its first since a May 24, 2025, defeat at Lisbon, snaps an 11-game winning streak. The Mustangs had looked nearly unbeatable since that loss to the Greyhounds, but this result against the Black Bears could be a sign that no team is head-and-shoulders above the rest in a strong Class C South region.

“Grady threw strikes for them — he mixed things in well — and their hitters are tough,” said Monmouth coach Eric Palleschi. “For us, I thought Kyle did a good job battling to get that deep into the game. It was a battle of two good teams, and we’ll probably see each other down the road again.”

NOTABLE QUOTABLES

“They’re legit; they’re one of the top teams in Class C, and when you see the product on the field, it kind of reassures you of what you need to do to get to that level. We put the pressure on when we could, and every time we did, they were able to execute. That was the difference.” — Eric Palleschi

“I know my job specifically was to help (Grady) out — to be selfless and to help the team out in any way possible. (I didn’t do well) at the plate, but as long as we got the win, that’s all that matters.” — Jack Spellman