East Lyme — There is this young man on the mound, shaped like 6 o’clock, who releases the ball seemingly from the heavens. Good luck to the hitters and the milli-second they have to identify the pitch, let alone make solid contact.

And these are among the reasons UConn-bound lefty Brady Ericson is 5-0 this season — and why Ericson and Woodstock Academy are the Eastern Connecticut Conference Division I baseball champions.

Ericson’s 81-pitch, complete game two-hitter Saturday led the Centaurs to a 2-0 win over East Lyme and the outright title.

“The uniqueness,” Woodstock coach (and East Lyme grad) Connor Elliott said. “He’s a 6-7 lefty. A lot of lefties come three-quarters or sidearm. Brady is as over the top as you’ll see from a lefty. The first time through the order, the opponent has trouble picking up the ball, I think.”

There were no arguments from East Lyme coach Jack Biggs.

“The release point,” Biggs said. “Hard to pick up. He doesn’t walk anybody. His pitch count (81) today shows how efficient he is. When you don’t walk anybody and force everything into play, you are tough to beat.”

This was not only a division title for Woodstock (15-1, 6-0), but some redemption as well. The Vikings defeated the Centaurs three times last year.

“This is something we’ve been thinking about since practice began,” Ericson said. “We knew it wouldn’t be easy. East Lyme is a good team. But the best part about this is the little things we did to win.”

Elliott was quite pleased at the idea of clinching a division on the field of his alma mater.

“A lot of fun,” he said. “I was joking with Coach Biggs that we’d get them sooner or later. Last year, we lost five games and three were to East Lyme (12-5, 5-2), including at Dodd (in the ECC Tournament championship game).”

Ericson allowed one runner to get as far as third base. Except all that got him was a scoreless tie through six innings. That’s because East Lyme starter Liam Joyce pitched 5.2 scoreless innings allowing three hits, five walks and seven strikeouts. Joyce deftly pitched out of several predicaments during which Woodstock had runners in scoring position.

This was especially significant considering how ace left-hander (and No. 3 hitter) Alex Dreyfus missed the game with a sprained ankle.

“It hurt not having him,” Biggs said. “Our senior leader who was ready to throw. He is full of positive energy. But Liam threw really well. The more guys that got on, the tougher he got. He can build on this.”

Keon Lamarche and Riley O’Brien produced RBI singles in the seventh that enabled Woodstock to snap a scoreless tie — and win a division.

“Winning the division was one of our goals from the start,” Elliott said. “We just beat a great program. A good team win. We just said to the kids that this is what all state tournament games are going to be like.”

m.dimauro@theday.com