Caleb McFarland belted a lead-changing home run in the top of the sixth inning, and his Camden-Rockport Little League team rallied from a pair of deficits to defeat Saco/Maremont Little League, 9-7, in the Maine state championship game.

Camden-Rockport's title game win was the team's fourth victory in a row at the state tournament, and eighth without a defeat since the start of international tournament play. The team advanced to the New England Region tournament in Bristol, Connecticut.

Saco/Maremont raced to a 4-0 lead after the first inning of the championship game, before Camden-Rockport pulled in front following three-run rallies in the third and fifth innings. Chandler Crans' third inning home run, his second of the tournament, helped the eventual Maine champions to narrow the deficit.

Saco regained the lead following a three-run rally in the fifth, but McFarland's sixth inning blast helped lift Camden-Rockport to the state championship.

"Never before has there been a team from Camden that's won states in Little League," said manager Paul McFarland. Camden-Rockport's three prior state tournament appearances resulted in a pair of 0-2 departures as well as a third place finish in 2005.

Camden-Rockport reached the championship game after opening the state tournament with a 7-3 victory over Bangor East Little League, then recording shutout wins over Auburn Suburban Little League and Suburban Little League from Cumberland/North Yarmouth.

"These kids are getting seven to nine strikeouts a game, so it starts with our pitching," Paul McFarland said after the championship game. "Everyone has a good quality number one pitcher, but we have two, which helps out tremendously."

Camden-Rockport relied on the steady arms of Caleb McFarland and Chandler Crans, who combined for seven of the team's eight victories in district and state tournament play. Elazar Allwine picked up the team's other victory, and also earned three saves in his closer role.

Crans helped to lift Camden-Rockport into the championship game by throwing a three-hitter in a 6-0 victory over Suburban in the winner's bracket final. The Camden hurler struck out eight, and needed less than 70 pitches in a complete game effort. Equally importantly, he kept Camden-Rockport in the game before the teams' offense warmed up late in the contest. Camden-Rockport scored the game's first run in the fifth inning, when Allwine walked and later scored on a wild pitch. In the sixth, Caleb McFarland followed Patrick Weferling's double with the first of his two state tournament home runs. Myles Safford later doubled in a pair of runs before also coming around to score.

Suburban's best scoring chance came in the first, but Camden right fielder Matt Vitagliano preserved the scoreless tie by throwing out a runner at the plate trying to score from second on a single.

Earlier in the tournament, Crans scattered eight hits over 5-2/3 innings as Camden-Rockport opened the tournament with an 8-3 win over Bangor East. Camden-Rockport turned a 1-6-3 double play in the top of the first inning, then Crans rifled the first pitch in the bottom of the inning beyond the outfield fence to give Camden a lead it would never relinquish. Jack Orne added a two-run single later in the inning, and Camden-Rockport collected run-scoring hits from Weferling, Matt Viatgliano, and Aaron Nolan in the third.

Bangor East narrowed the lead in the fourth, when Brendon Moore led off with a home run and Adam Allen later drove in a pair of runs. But Saffort added a solo home run in the fifth, and Crans held Bangor East in check until exhausting his pitch count limit in the sixth. Caleb McFarland closed out the win with a strikeout.

The next day, Caleb McFarland pitched into the sixth inning, and held Auburn Suburban to three hits in a 5-0 victory. The younger McFarland also delivered a pair of hits and scored twice in the win, while Orne drove in a pair of runs and Weferling scored twice.

The string of early-round victories set Camden-Rockport up for a title game meeting with Saco/Maremont, which won three straight games following an opening round 11-1 loss to Suburban. After a pair of weather-related postponements, Saco avenged their opening round defeat with a 9-6 victory over the same team in the elimination bracket final.

The previous year, Saco/Maremont had defeated Camden-Rockport 17-1 in an eleven-year-old tournament, but Camden was able to reverse the prior result and rally for the championship game win.

"I think a lot of it is just that this group is well-rounded, but I think a lot of it is a psychological thing in terms of confidence," observed Paul McFarland after the tournament. "These kids just had to believe they could win, and they do."