And for the second game in a row it didn’t matter.

The Rams plated two runs in the third for the only runs they needed. Senior ace pitcher Trevor DeLaite did the rest, shutting down Falmouth chances and shutting out the Yachtsmen in a 5-0 victory in the Class A baseball state championship at Larry Mahaney Diamond on the campus of St. Joseph’s College on Saturday.

The title is the Rams’ (19-1) third state championships in as many years.

Bangor drew a pair of two-out walks against Falmouth (19-1) starter Reece Armitage in the top of the first, but the Southern Maine champion Yachtsmen got the third out the same way they got the first two, with a groundout to third.

The Rams struck first in the top of the third. Armitage got the first out by striking out No. 9 hitter Ryan Brookings on a 3-2 pitch, but the top of the order went to work. Kyle Stevenson walked on a full count, DeLaite doubled to right-center for the game’s first hit, Derek Fournier followed with an RBI single, and Peter Kemble later drove in another run on a fielder’s choice groundout.

“We just keep plugging, and we talk about grinding out each inning. We try to win every inning,” Bangor coach Jeff Fahey said. “When we got our opportunities with runners on we capitalized.”

Falmouth’s No. 9 hitter Garrett Aube collected the Yachtsmen’s first hit in the bottom of the inning, dropping an one-out single inside the first-base line, but DeLaite picked him off, then struck out older brother Connor Aube looking on the next pitch for the third out.

DeLaite, a left-hander, later picked off Connor Aube to end the fifth.

“It’s a good move,” Falmouth coach Kevin Winship said of DeLaite’s pickoff move. “I don’t agree with it not being a balk. We felt it was a balk move. But nothing you can do. Not our call.”

DeLaite, who will play in college at the University of Maine next year, said he has worked on his pickoff in preparation to pitch at the next level. 

The Yachtsmen looked primed to start a two-out rally in the bottom of the fourth, getting consecutive singles by Armitage and Colin Coyne, followed by a walk to Chris Camelio, but DeLaite closed the door by striking out Jesse Melchiskey on a 3-2 pitch.

“I went fastball, it kind of tailed away,” DeLaite said of his punchout pitch. “Right then, we just knew they had a little bit of life, so taking that away from them was huge for us.”

“If we come up with a big hit, maybe it’s a different game,” Winship said. “We didn’t. In order to win a state championship you got to get those big hits.”

Bangor added to its lead with one run in the fifth and two in the sixth. Jesse Colford drove in Stevenson with a sacrifice fly in the fifth, then in the sixth Stevenson drove in a pair on a single to right against Falmouth reliever Cam Guarino.

Falmouth had chances throughout, putting runners on in every inning except the second. But DeLaite, the Maine Gatorade Player of the Year, squashed each one. A strikeout ended each of the first four innings, a pickoff finished the fifth, then the defense helped out to close out the last two innings — and the game. DeLaite finished with 10 strikeouts against three hits and three walks, but it was a pair of fielder’s choice groundouts that ended the game in the bottom of the seventh.

“He wasn’t perfect, but he was pretty (darn) good,” Fahey said of DeLaite, who finished his career with a 24-2 record. “I think he was getting a little tired at the end. He ended up with 110 (pitches) or something like that, which is the most he’s thrown all year. But it was his game. He just pitched to contact.”

Armitage gave up just three hits, but five walks and clutch hitting by the Rams did him in. Cam Guarino gave up four more hits while pitching the final two frames, and Bangor took advantage to put the game away.

“I thought both of my guys that came in, I thought they pitched fantastic,” Winship said. “You can’t win if you don’t score.”

Despite DeLaite’s stellar four-year career, Saturday was his first start in a state final. He made his first and only chance count.

“It’s pretty special,” DeLaite said. “I didn’t know if I was going to get this opportunity after the last two years. It’s definitely something I was looking forward to.”

wkramlich@sunjournal.com.