WESTFORD – Before starter Jake Cullen first took the mound for a battle between Dual County League powers Wednesday, No. 4 Westford Academy baseball head coach Mike Parent told him he’d have a tough time taking out the senior late against a signature No. 12 Lincoln-Sudbury foe.

With a dominant performance to lead a 4-1 win, Cullen showed why.

The senior right-hander threw his most pitches (105) of any outing this year, fanning 10 in a complete game while allowing one hit, three walks and one earned run. The lone hit was a solo home run to Jake Haarde (1-for-2, walk) in the fourth inning; his only true blemish after setting down the Warriors’ first nine batters.

The win was the Ghosts’ 15th straight after dropping the season opener. It also snapped Lincoln-Sudbury’s 12-game win streak while securing Westford Academy’s third straight league title.

“Very proud of the way the team played, obviously led by our hopefully All-Scholastic pitcher, Jake Cullen,” Parent added. “He’s a bulldog. … That’s the most he’s thrown all year, but it’s the middle of May, so we built up to that. He was ready for that, and he gets stronger. Once football season ended, he’s prepared since November for this.”

“We rode with him. We’re glad we’re riding him. He’s a good kid to ride,” Parent added.

Matt Mahoney pitched well for Lincoln-Sudbury (13-4), allowing one hit with four walks and five strikeouts over five innings. He allowed four runs, but only one was earned as the Ghosts feasted with runners in the third and fourth innings.

Tyler Eliason and Nic Bonica drew consecutive walks with one out in the third. L-S botched Tyler Frazee’s ensuing grounder to drive in Eliason and put runners on second and third base. Cullen’s sac fly drove in Bonica, and James McDermott’s RBI single drove in Frazee for a 3-0 lead.

Cullen allowed the solo shot to the next Warriors’ batter, but a walk and an error in the fourth set up an RBI groundout from Ryan Snow to get the run back for a 4-1 lead.

“When you’re playing a very good team like L-S and a very good pitcher like the Mahoney kid, you’ve got to put the ball in play and hopefully good things will happen,” Parent said. “That’s what we try to stress. … We manufactured some runs and good things did happen.”

Cullen and the defense took care of business from there. Shane Clark ranged back in left field for an out in the fifth inning, following a Cullen strikeout. Westford Academy turned a double play in the sixth, following another Cullen strikeout.

Center fielder Evan Pasters caught up to a long fly in the seventh, and Cullen slammed the door with two strikeouts despite another walk.

“Everything was working, but usually I’m cutter to fastball,” Cullen said. “That’s usually where I’m at, and it was working today. … I was working all offseason for this. I knew I was going to come out here and kind of be a problem. I want to win it for the boys and for Westford.”

“This was a tournament-type game,” Parent said. “The atmosphere, the energy, the type of opponent we played. So, I’m glad that we answered the bell, and we’re going to hopefully answer the bell as we continue on.”

“It’s huge,” Cullen added. “Not just for the boys, but just for the school. We want to put Westford Academy on the map, pretty much.”