WINTHROP – Baseball’s still got it.

Too slow? Too dull? Oh, please. Name another game that could start out as a lazy, windy day at the yard and end up giving everyone in attendance an eyeful of something they’ve never seen before.

OK, the conclusion of Tuesday’s Mountain Valley Conference showdown doesn’t fall into the perfect game or unassisted triple-play category. In fact, it’s probably rarer. Winthrop scored two runs on separate balks in the bottom of the seventh inning to skedaddle away with a 3-2 victory over Dirigo.

“How long have I been doing this? Thirteen years?” asked Winthrop coach Marc Fortin, whose experience actually covers closer to two decades if you include an early tenure at Buckfield. “But yeah, two balks.”

Two balks and two runs separating two rivals that didn’t want to lose, even if neither the MVC championship nor top billing in the Western Class C standings depended upon it yet. Winthrop (11-1) entered at No. 4 in the Heals and stands to gain a boatload from beating No. 1 Dirigo (11-2).

Dirigo ace Jon Smith was the victim of the crackdown. Smith initially balked in the fourth inning, advancing Dave Ricker to second base and leading to Winthrop’s first run.

The fateful seventh inning set a new standard for bizarre. Jake Steele opened it innocently by battling all the way back from 1-2 count for a walk. Riley Cobb then singled to center field, and an errant attempt to pick off Steele from second base sailed into center and placed runners at the corners.

Steele scored the tying run on the first balk of the inning. According to Dirigo coach Dave LaFleur, it was assessed because Smith moved the ball back and forth between his glove and hand while standing on the pitching rubber.

After Brandon Dupuis’ third hit of the game again left first and third bases occupied, Smith committed a more black-and-white balk, faking a throw to first that James “Whitey” Moulton wasn’t in position to take.

“We didn’t have a play on there,” Dupuis said. “I was just taking a bigger lead than usual.”

“He was not aware that we had pulled the infield in,” LaFleur said of Smith. “He got out of his rhythm and let the moment get to him. Maybe I should have taken him out, but he’s a competitor.”

Until the seventh, Smith, a three-sport star athlete who will attempt to make the University of Maine baseball team as a walk-on, out-dueled Winthrop’s combination of Easton Morang and Jake Steele.

Levi Hutchins’ RBI double put Dirigo on top in the first. Ricker’s single, the first balk and a booted grounder off the bat of Forrest Dwyer knotted it in the fourth.

Dirigo greeted Steele and answered immediately in the fifth. Derek Daley led off with a single, scooted to second on a wild pitch, tagged and took third on Smith’s deep fly to center and scored on Aaron Fenstermacher’s roller to short.

“Easton was supposed to pitch the whole game,” said Steele. “I thought he was doing very well, and Coach just told me to warm up. When Coach calls on you, you’ve just got to be prepared.”

In his first relief appearance of the season, Steele (4-0) struck out Ryan LaFleur and coaxed a groundout from Tyler Gates to strand pinch runner Enrico Ross at third in the sixth.

“We’re got three guys who can throw strikes,” Fortin said. “We won today with our No. 3 and No. 2.”

Smith also froze a potential tying run at third in his half of the sixth, fanning Dwyer.

“His ERA is around 1.00. He’s one of our best,” LaFleur said. “This umpire got to him a little bit, but you know what? You’ve got to play through that.”