AUGUSTA – Sleeping on a seven-run lead and needing only six outs for a spot in the American Legion Baseball state tournament final four sounds like a cozy situation, on the surface.

Todd Cifelli sounded Monday evening like a skipper who wanted his red-hot Gayton Post 31 tossing and turning a little bit before the resumption of a suspended elimination clash that looks all but out of reach.

“They’ve played some crazy games,” Cifelli said of Libby-Mitchell Post of Scarborough, even as both teams raced from McGuire Field to their vehicles in yet another dastardly deluge with Gayton leading 10-3 in the top of the eighth.

The game is scheduled to resume at 2 p.m. today. If Gayton hangs on, it’ll play again at 4 o’clock against an opponent to be determined for a berth in the championship round.

Gayton (18-7) fared just fine in its first rescheduled elimination game of the tournament, rallying earlier Monday afternoon for an 8-5 victory over Steamboat Petroleum of Waldo County.

Down two runs with one out in the top of the eighth, Gayton got a pulse when Mekae Hyde legged out an infield single.

Robbie Leeman and Kyle Neagle each followed with a single to plate Hyde. Leeman scampered home with the tying run on a wild pitch, and Travis Dyke’s sharp single to right field nudged home Neagle with the eventual game-winner.

“I think it helped us get over the hump,” Hyde said of the hustle down the line after his slow roller to third base. “We were down the whole game. We thought we should’ve had more runs.”

Hyde was 5-for-9 with seven RBIs in the abbreviated doubleheader. Winning pitcher Eddie West matched his battery mate with three hits against Steamboat.

Dyke and Robbie Leeman were multiple hitters in the opener. West, Alex Wong, Greg LaBonte, Erik Waite and Jeff Keene joined Hyde as repeat offenders against Libby-Mitchell, whose pitching supply seemed to run dry at roughly the same point Steamboat’s did.

While the 11-man Steamboat squad (drawing from Belfast, Camden-Rockport, Mt. View and Searsport) was down to its No. 3 pitcher, Gabe Blodgett, Gayton enjoyed the luxury of trotting out Lewiston High School ace West.

It wasn’t a vintage performance by the recent graduate, but West grew stronger as the game progressed and became lights-out with the lead. West retired the final six hitters. He registered his only swinging strikeout of the day to lead off the ninth.

“It’ll hurt tomorrow,” said West, who threw 141 pitches. “I just need to tire myself out sometimes.”

“At this point in the season, I think their arms are stronger,” Cifelli said. “I think also to assess a pitch count you also need to assess what you’re seeing. I saw that his velocity was there, his curveball was there, and he didn’t want to come out. It’s a special time for these kids.”

Steamboat slapped 17 hits but didn’t score after Phil Curll’s RBI single made it a 5-3 lead in the bottom of the fifth.

Miles Davee went 4-for-5 for Steamboat (17-11), which chalked up 47 hits in its three tournament contests.

“We had (West) on the ropes and could have broke his back at any time, and we didn’t do it. Two or three times they were warming a guy up,” said Steamboat coach Emery Shute. “All we needed was another hit, and I guarantee he would’ve gone out of the game. We pounded the ball while we were here. It isn’t like we were a fluke.”

Joe Sullivan pitched all seven innings against Libby-Mitchell, leaving Jeff Keene and Will Emerson available for long-term duty today. Kyle Neagle, who pitched deep into Saturday’s loss to Nova Seafood, would be due to throw between starts and could get a call in middle relief.

“At this point in the tournament everybody’s pitching is in an interesting position, some better than others,” Cifelli said. “Maybe Libby-Mitchell gets a guy back now. This game’s not over.”