Jun. 17—St. Dominic Academy baseball two-decade run of success continued with the program's eighth state title on Saturday, when the Saints defeated Stearns 9-1.
The victory also is St. Dom's third straight Class D state championship. The eight seniors and two juniors, who have been part of the three most recent title-winning teams, hope their legacy will be cemented in school history.
"When kids look back at 2024, 2023 and 2022, they are going to see, who was on that team?" senior Timothee Ouellette said. "It was a great group of boys that we have here, a fun group of guys, and we did what we wanted to do."
The Saints join Southern Aroostook (1987-89), North Yarmouth Academy (2002-04), Bangor Christian (2012-14) and Searsport (2015-17) as teams who have won three consecutive titles in Class D.
"It's awesome. It's the best way to go out, our senior year — I am all done," Thomas Casserly said. "You couldn't wish for anything else — it was perfect."
St. Dom's first five titles came in Class C.
Ouellette's and Casserly's senior classmates are Ridge Dionne, Ashton Hammond, Ryan Bussiere, Ethan Pelletier, Campbell Perryman and Kyle Reed. The juniors are Curtis Wheeler and Mason LaFlamme.
Bob Blackman, who has been a coach on all eight state championship teams, said he has a deep connection with this group of players.
"This was the eighth one, and they are all special, of course. The first one was very special because I was doing it with my son," Blackman said. "These three will hold a special spot because the boys were very close with my grandson Easton, and with him passing, they are connected in that regard. They are special boys for our family, not only our baseball family but our personal family. They will always have a special place in my heart."
The Saints' first state title was in 2005 when Blackman's son, Brady, was on the team. Brady is the father of Easton, who died in August 2022 at the age of 2.
St. Dom's returned to the state championship in 2006 but lost to Searsport, but got revenge by beating Searsport in the 2007 Class C final.
The Saints won their third championship in 2009 with an 11-0 win over George Stevens Academy, their fourth state title in 2011 (5-4 over Calais) and fifth in 2015 (14-6 over Bucksport).
This year's seniors have come a long way from their freshman season. The Saints went 0-14 during the regular season in 2021 but won their first two playoff games — 8-1 over Buckfield and 11-1 over Rangeley — before losing 13-1 to Searsport in the regional semifinal.
"I credit (Bob) Blackman for that," Dionne said. "He took us a long way from a team of no wins, kind of a bunch of nobodies, to now where we are with three state titles under our belt."
Still, the way their career started for the seniors, winning three titles in a row is difficult to put in words for Hammond, who started all three state championship games and pitched complete games in the 2023 and 2024 victories.
"It's kind of surreal, especially after our freshmen season where we thought maybe we wouldn't get one," Hammond, who threw a one-hitter Saturday, said. "It's definitely exciting."
Hammond said once they won the first title, beating Machias 3-1 in 2022, the Saints knew they had a chance to also win the next two.
"We have a special group of guys," Hammond said. "We all knew after we got that first one — it's possible to keep going, and that's what we did. We kept winning and winning. That's what this team does — we find ways to win."
Blackman said that the 4-1 win over Bangor Christian in the 2023 Class D final made him think that this group could complete the three-peat.
"The second one kind of set the tone, as far as I was concerned," Blackman said. "We knew we had everybody but Miles (Frenette) back, and we said there's no reason why we can't do three in a row — there's reason.
"This group, this is three years of these guys playing together and starting. Along the way, you add little key pieces — Curtis Wheeler, the junior, and Ben Dumais. You've added little tweaks each year, and they are tweaks that made us better."
Blackman hasn't decided if he will return to coach for a 21st season.
"I evaluate every year, after (the season)," Blackman said. "There's part of me that says it's time to move on, but there's a part of me that says I don't want to let these remaining kids down. Curtis Wheeler is looking forward to me coaching him next year, and Riley Daigle and Ben Dumais. We will see ...
"This was the 20th year. I guess if you were to go out, it couldn't get better than this."
Blackman also said he has grandchildren whose events and games he wants to attend.
Winning three in a row is something that will keep the 10 players connected for the rest of their lives.
"This is some of the best guys that I have ever known," Casserly said. "It's awesome to do this with them."
Copy the Story Link
Class B baseball: Yarmouth cruises past Caribou, 8-1
Watch: Spring sports teams celebrate title-clinching moments
