LISBON FALLS – Rob Cloutier knew it was coming. So, for that matter, did most of the rest of the people in the ballpark.

It was just a matter of execution.

Execute Cloutier did – perfectly, in fact – on a suicide squeeze bunt that scored Tim Sautter to give Lisbon a 7-6 win over Mountain Valley in a fitting ninth-inning climax to a classic Western Class B quarterfinal.

The fourth-seeded Greyhounds travel to No. 1 Gorham for the semifinal at 4 p.m. today.

With the bases loaded and none out, Sautter broke for home as Mountain Valley reliever Tim Turner started his wind-up. Cloutier dropped the ball down perfectly to the grass about six feet in front of the plate.

Turner got to the ball quickly and tried to scoop it with his glove and shovel it home in one motion, but the ball glanced off his glove as he brought it up. Sautter may have beaten the ball to the plate even if he had fielded it cleanly.

“I knew the squeeze sign was coming. Actually, I was hoping for it when I was in the on-deck circle,” said Cloutier, who went 3-for-6 with two runs scored. “I’ve been waiting for that for four years. I saw out of the corner of my eye (that Sautter) was booking it to the plate, so I had to get it down any way I could.”

“Once we got the man on third base with less than two outs, we were squeezing,” Lisbon coach Randy Ridley said.

The Greyhounds (12-3) had the potential winning run cut down at the plate in both the sixth and seventh, leaving the bases loaded in each of those frames, and stranded the winning run at third in the eighth. In total, they left 13 runners on in the game.

No. 5 Mountain Valley (10-5) who battled back from deficits of 4-0 and 5-4 to take a 6-5 lead in the sixth, had baserunners reach in every inning and stranded the potential go-ahead run at third in the eighth.

“We battled all the way,” said Falcons coach Steve LaPointe. “Both teams had opportunities, and both pitchers pitched their way out of it every time. It was a great game to be a part of.”

Mountain Valley got superb relief from Marcus Palmer and Turner after the Greyhounds chased starter Richie Ross with a four-run first inning. John Tefft went the distance for Lisbon, throwing 120 pitches in a gutsy effort.

“He did not have his best stuff. He got behind batters. But he did what he had to do to win the game,” Ridley said.

Tefft yielded nine hits and five walks while striking out just one, but he benefited from some excellent defense behind him. The Greyhounds made just one error.

Derek Giusto made two run-saving catches in center field, tracking balls down in the gap in the third and sixth innings.

“I was trying to throw strikes and let the ‘D’ get the job done,” Tefft said. “I knew I could keep throwing until we got the win.”

Jason McPherson and Craig Milledge had two hits apiece for the Falcons, while Ian Venskus drove in three runs. Sautter had three hits and reached base five times for the Greyhounds, scoring the tying run in the sixth before scampering home with the winning run.

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