SOUTH PARIS – Garret Olson led off the bottom of the eighth inning with an infield single that he barely beat out with a head-first slide into first base.

Olson advanced to second on a steal, moved to third on a fielder’s choice by Jeff Austin, and raced home with the winning run, after Tyler Bryant belted a sharp single over the drawn-in outfield to send Bessey Motors to the semifinal round of the Zone III American Legion playoffs with a 1-0 victory.

“I was sitting on a fastball just trying to drive it into the outfield and that’s what (Dustin) Longchamps threw me,” said Bryant.

Olson set the stage with a heads-up play to lead off the inning.

“I didn’t hit it hard, but I thought I had a chance to beat it out and I got a good call at first,” said Olson.

Andrew Stacey (six strikeouts, three walks) was the story of the game, though. He set down Gayton batters inning after inning to throw a complete game no-hitter. He didn’t allow a ball out of the infield until the top of the eighth inning when the Post 31 squad finally lofted three harmless outs to the outfield.

Gayton’s Longchamps (seven strikeouts, three walks) matched Baker on the mound, not allowing a run until the eighth inning in a classic pitchers duel.

“Dustin gave us a great effort; he has done it all season,” said Gayton coach John Hessler. “I couldn’t have asked for a better performance from a pitcher. It’s just hard to win when you are no-hit.”

Both sides had opportunities to score, but some outstanding fielding plays thwarted each threat. Gayton turned in three outstanding plays to stop potential runs from scoring.

Shawn Sabine made a diving catch in right field in the fourth inning with a man on second. He then caught a fly in the bottom of the seventh inning that allowed him to double off the Bessey runner at first to send the game into extra innings. Tyler Turgeon also chipped in with a diving stab of a ground ball in the sixth inning to stall another potential rally.

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