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BANGOR — The Monmouth Academy baseball team runs sprints in the outfield after every game. Win or lose, regular-season opener or state championship game, the routine doesn’t change.

After the Class C final Saturday against Washington Academy, the Mustangs ran five reps. The players didn’t mind. Their smiles grew with every down-and-back. As long as they could hold the Gold Glove trophy in their hands, they would run forever.

That’s how Monmouth played on the way to a 5-4 comeback win at Mansfield Stadium.

“No moment’s too big for them,” coach Eric Palleschi said. “They just keep working, and they just keep battling. You get down 4-0, they could have easily just been like, ‘You know what, it’s the last sport of the season, it’s summertime.’ But not this group. That’s where they just buckled down, got after it, and did what they did.”

With one out in the top of the seventh and the Mustangs (19-1) down 4-3, junior catcher Noah Schultz hit a single to right field. The tying run, Bryce Fletcher, scored easily, and when the ball was mishandled, Levi Laverdiere saw there was enough time to round third base and score the go-ahead run.

“I got two strikes, and I was just like, ‘All right, now it’s time to fight. This is where you win championships right here,'” Schultz said. “I just saw the ball on the outside part of the plate, put it the other way, and it got through.”

“Noah always has a green light,” Palleschi said. “I don’t give these guys red lights much on the bases or at the plate, really. We let them rip, and we let them run.”

Laverdiere (seven innings, eight strikeouts, five walks, four earned runs) then retired the side in the bottom of the inning, and Monmouth beat Washington Academy for the second year in a row.

The Raiders (18-2) started Saturday with last year’s showdown fresh in memory, as the North champs took advantage of their “free bases” in the first inning. Jayden Mahar knocked in two runs with a double, then two at-bats later, George Welch doubled the score with a line drive to right.

Despite the shock of Washington Academy’s quick lead and efficient pitching from Trevor Shimabukuro (6 1/3 innings, six strikeouts, two walks, four earned runs), Laverdiere and the Mustangs fought back. Laverdiere, a junior, shut out the Raiders over the final six innings with his curveball and off-speed pitches, aided by his team’s defense.

Eventually, the Mustangs began to find success at the plate with ground balls to the left side of the infield. Laverdiere (2 for 4) drove in Fletcher for their first run in the third inning.

“Hit the ball hard on the ground, speed kills,” Laverdiere said.

More hits to short put two Monmouth runners on in the fourth inning, and bunts moved them around the bags. Gavin Parsons (2 for 3) drove in Schultz with one out, and Tyler Day’s sacrifice bunt brought in Rory Foyt (3 for 4) to make it 4-3.

Washington Academy ended the fourth, fifth and sixth innings with runners in scoring position, unable to add to the lead. Shimabukuro finished 2 for 4.

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