Jon Smith led a solid offensive attack as Dirigo cruised to an 11-1 victory over Old Orchard Beach in the quarterfinals of the Western Class C baseball playoffs. The game ended after five innings because of the mercy rule.
Top-ranked Dirigo will host Jay today at 4 p.m. in the regional semifinals. The Cougars beat Jay 10-7 last month.
The Cougars relied on a combination of strong pitching and near flawless defense. Dirigo coach Donnie Hebert hasn’t needed a lot of runs, but eight of his nine starters had either a hit or scored a run.
The second inning was the undoing for Seagulls starter Don Dutton when the Cougars batted around and scored six runs. Spencer Berry led off with a walk and Dekota Holmquist doubled. After Lenny Hall singled home a run, Smith supplied the key blow with a two-out triple to the gap to drive in two runs.
Holman (5-0) retired nine batters, striking out three. Holman and Chris Richards each donned cap and gowns after the game.
Holmquist scored on Hall’s sacrifice fly in the third. The Cougars maintained the pressure and scored three runs in the fourth, Holman (.466 batting average) and Scott Walsh each hit RBI singles.
Old Orchard Beach loaded the bases in the fifth, but only Mike Bouffard scored.
Dirigo’s Chris Gauvin scored the final run on a balk.
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