Mt. Ararat rides Eligh Imrie's poise past Edward Little in quarterfinal

Thunder and lightning stopped Mt. Ararat at the exact moment Edward Little had pulled even, but the pause became the turning point in a 4-1 Class A North quarterfinal at Bowdoin College in Brunswick. The No. 2 seed from Topsham outlasted the seventh-seeded Red Eddies after the game was tied 1-1 in the bottom of the fifth, then used the restart to seize control and move on to a semifinal against Bangor.

Senior pitcher Eligh Imrie made the difference once play resumed. The St. Joseph’s College commit stayed loose during the delay with band work and light throwing instead of letting the interruption break his rhythm. While some players checked their phones, Imrie kept his focus on the mound, and that composure showed immediately when the teams returned from Farley Fieldhouse to Pickard Diamond. He retired six of the next seven batters, striking out three in that span, and finished with seven strikeouts while allowing just one hit.

Mt. Ararat had to grind for the breakthrough because Edward Little did enough early to keep the game close. The Eagles stranded 12 runners overall, a reminder that the offense was not sharp until after the weather break. Once the inning of uncertainty passed, though, Mt. Ararat started converting opportunities into runs and finally separated from the Red Eddies.

The win carried added weight for a program that entered at 14-3 and had not reached a Class A North regional final since 2017. Bangor was next on the schedule at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, a familiar opponent for Mt. Ararat, which beat the Rams 4-0 on May 26 and also topped them in last year’s regional final. Another victory would push the Eagles one step closer to another deep postseason run and confirm that the quarterfinal was decided as much by patience as by talent.

Edward Little, meanwhile, played with the backdrop of a new $126 million high school that opened in 2023, the most expensive high school ever built in Maine, complete with athletic fields and upgraded safety features. But on this day in Brunswick, the decisive feature was Mt. Ararat’s ability to wait out the storm, reset, and finish the job.