AUGUSTA — If the fans crowding into Morton Field on Wednesday for the Class A North regional baseball final were running a bit late, they missed a lot.

Mt. Ararat pitcher Garrett Moody and Bangor ace hurler Peter Kemble didn’t mess around or work by the hour, as the duo combined on a fast-moving 75-minute high school baseball game.

Unfortunately for the seventh-seeded Eagles, Kemble was just a bit better, striking out 12 and allowing just four hits in a 3-0 victory, giving No. 4 Bangor (15-4) its fourth consecutive regional title. The Rams will look for a fourth straight State Class A title against Falmouth, which downed Cheverus in the Class A South final, 4-1, on Saturday back at Morton Field (2 p.m.).

Kemble’s credentials spoke loudly coming into the game — 46 innings pitched, one earned run allowed, 66 strikeouts and just six walks. The future University of Maine product did little to hurt those stats against Mt. Ararat.

On the other side, Moody threw just 76.

“It was another gem by Moody,” said Mt. Ararat coach Bob Neron after watching his ace allow just five hits and two walks with three strikeouts. “Garrett gave it his all. He kept us in the game.”

Missed chances

Despite Kemble racking up a dozen strikeouts, Mt. Ararat had its chances. Trailing 3-0 in the fifth, Nate Leslie and Cam Cox reach on a pair of Bangor errors and Kyle Brennan slapped a single to load the bases with one out.

But, a soft liner to short was turned into an inning-ending double play.

“They hit the fastball a couple times, so we went to the off-speed stuff and that worked our pretty well,” said Kemble. “Our pitchers have not given up a lot of runs this season. Today, we had great defense and turned those two double plays that were really huge.”

“He threw pretty good, not overly fast, but really placed the ball well,” said Mt. Ararat (11-9) cleanup hitter Kaileb Hawkes, who figured Kemble out by going 2-for-3 in the contest. “We’ve struggled with hitting the ball and getting those runners in when we have a chance. We played defense well, just didn’t put the bat on the ball.”

“I thought they all played well, we just didn’t get that big hit,” added Neron. “But I am not disappointed. These guys fought hard all year long. They gave me everything they had. What else can a coach ask for?”

Bangor jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second inning. Noah Missbrenner walked to open the frame and Gary Farnham singled. A sacrifice bunt by Zach Ireland moved the runners up a base, and a Zach Cowperthwaite ground out to second scored Missbrenner.

The Rams might have scored more in the frame if not for a good play by first baseman Sam Alexander, who threw a strike to third baseman Nate Leslie to retire Farnham for the final out of the frame.

It was Cowperthwaite that came through again for the Rams. With Farnham (hit by pitch) and Ireland (single) on base, Cowperthwaite turned on a Moody offering and drilled a gapper to left-center field. Both Farnham and Ireland easily scored, with Eagles shortstop Nick Merrill throwing out Cowperthwaite trying to stretch his double into a triple.

From there, Moody was nearly lights out. He threw just five pitches in a 1-2-3 fifth frame and received a solid play from right fielder Hawkes, who caught an Ireland fly ball and threw out pinch runner Charlie Budd at the plate for a double play.

“We beat them 10-0 earlier this year, so for them to come out and battle the way they did was absolutely impressive,” said Kemble of the Eagles.

Kemble struck out the side in the seventh to end the contest, finishing with 97 pitches.

Mt. Ararat’s first appearance in a baseball regional final since Mark Rogers was firing 97 mile-per-hour fastballs in the 2003-04 seasons has Neron looking forward to next season, when he’ll return most of his team, losing senior captain and catcher Cam Cox and infielder Kevin Giroux to graduation.

“We will be back here next year,” Neron said.