Often, even the best high school baseball lineups have a considerable drop off once you get past the middle of the order. In Saturday's Class D state championship game, just past the middle of the order was where Rangeley hit its stride.

The bottom three hitters in the Laker lineup, Ben Morton, Jordan Richard and Ross Gordon, went a combined 5 for 9 in Rangeley's 3-2 win over Katahdin. Richard reached base all three times he came to the plate, and scored the Lakers' first run.

Morton drove in a run in the sixth inning with a single up the middle.

It was the second consecutive game the bottom of the Laker order came up big. In the Western Class D final against Richmond on Wednesday, Richard and Gordon led off the third inning with singles, and scored on a Luke Hammond hit. The Lakers won that game, 3-0.