STANDISH — Greely High left the bases loaded in the first inning.
The Rangers did not squander many chances after that.
Greely cruised to a 10-0 victory over Camden Hills on Saturday to win the Class B baseball state championship at St. Joseph’s College.
The Rangers scored two runs in the fifth inning, ending the game due to the 10-run rule.
Ryan Twitchell threw a no-hitter for the Rangers.
After missing its opportunity in the first, Greely (15-5) scored six runs in the second and kept it coming to win its second straight state title and fourth in nine years.
“The guys were ready to battle in the batter’s box,” Greely Coach Derek Soule said. “It’s the best we’ve done with that all year, and the timing was nice.”
Greely recorded 12 hits, three by Calvin Soule. He singled home the 10th run to spark the Rangers’ celebration.
“We ran into a juggernaut today,” Camden Hills Coach Jeff Hart said. “They hit it hard and they hit it where we weren’t.”
Solid outfield defense by Camden Hills (13-8) kept Greely off the board in the first inning.
The Rangers had runners on first and second when Soule singled to right. The lead runner held at third as right fielder Mike Wolff fired in a strong throw. Chaz Reade then crushed a deep ball that center fielder Cam Gushee ran down.
“After that first inning, the first thought that went through my head was that we missed an opportunity,” Derek Soule said. “We were inches away from three runs.
“I hoped we would get another opportunity. Little did I know …”
But the Greely coach had to be concerned in the top of the second inning. Twitchell walked the leadoff batter, Kyle Crans. Then Wolff hit a high fly to left field that outfielder Austin Nowinski dropped, giving the Windjammers runners on first and third.
“I was just really disappointed,” Nowinski said. “But I had to buckle down. It was still 0-0 and I could still do something to help the team.”
He would. But first Greely needed to get out of the inning. Andrew Hall ripped a line drive, right to second baseman Justin Leeman, who doubled off the runner at first. Twitchell then got a groundout to end the inning.
In the bottom of the second, Matt Pisini was hit by a pitch, went to second on a wild pitch and was sacrificed to third by Dylan Fried. Nowinski then tripled to deep center. He slid into third, clapping and point into Greely’s dugout.
Leeman singled home Nowin-ski. After a flyout, the rally continued with a walk to Miles Shields, a double by Will Bryant, a single by Soule, a double by Reade and a single by Pisini.
“One guy after another put together good at-bats,” Coach Soule said.
And Twitchell could relax. He went 1-2-3 in each of the last three innings.
“The first innings were tight. But once it got 6-0, all I had to do was throw strikes and be myself on the mound,” Twitchell said.
Twitchell used mostly fastballs, with an occasional off-speed pitch. He received nice defense behind him, including Leeman bare-handing a slow grounder and throwing out Crans in the fourth.
Greely added two runs in the third on RBI singles by Shields and Bryant.
Leeman led off the fifth with a walk and Caleb Normandeau followed with a single. Shields singled in pinch-runner Gabe Axelsen, and Soule ended it with his single that scored pinch-runner Jordan Merrifield.
As the Rangers jumped on each other, Hart gathered his team, ready to say goodbye to six seniors.
“The seniors will take some time and will be able to look back and be proud of what they did,” Hart said.
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