RUMFORD – Mountain Valley used the time-tested formula for baseball success – hitting, pitching and defense – to win nine of its first 10 games.

On Friday, the Falcons used some hocus-pocus to beat Livermore Falls, 8-4, in a crucial Mountain Valley Conference showdown.

Helped by bad baserunning by the Andies, Mountain Valley mitigated numerous perilous situations at Hosmer Field. The Falcons’ own offense, meanwhile, didn’t let Livermore Falls off the hook for its mistakes (five errors).

“I don’t think Houdini could have done it any better,” Mountain Valley coach Steve LaPointe said. “We got some fortuitous bounces and some plays went our way, but we made some plays, too.”

Justin Staires cracked a pair of hits and drove in three runs for the Falcons. He also worked some magic in four innings of work on the mound, escaping jams in his first three frames to pick up the win. Garrett McPherson also walked the tightrope in his two-plus innings of relief but kept the Andies’ explosive offense from becoming a powder keg.

“Justin came in after throwing about 100 pitches on Monday, threw about 80 pitches today and he kept us in it,” LaPointe said. “Garrett’s just around the plate and he battled.”

“We had the bases loaded a few times and luckily we got out of it with only a few runs,” said McPherson. “We came through when we had runners on second and third.”

The Falcons were living on the edge from the start. Staires walked the first two batters of the game, but Matt Laubauskas made a fine diving stop at third to rob Willie Brown of a hit and tagged the bag for the first out. After another walk loaded the bases, Ryan Jackson grounded to short. Brown, who may have been trying to screen the shortstop, was hit by the ball, which by rule, results in the batter automatically being called out. Staires then got Ryan Jackson to fly out to center to end the threat.

Brown’s first inning on the hill for the Andies (10-3) went about the complete opposite as Staires. He got the first two Falcons out on four pitches, but then an error at second base opened the door for RBI singles by Staires and Alex Gagnon that put Mountain Valley on top for good.

The Andies had a runner doubled-up at first on a fly out to end the second inning prematurely. The Falcons then doubled the lead in their half of the second thanks to Staires’ sacrifice fly and an error.

Livermore Falls finally got on the board when doubles by Chandler White and Brown made it 4-1, but Staires caught Brown wandering too far off second two batters later to limit the damage.

“I think we had plenty of opportunities. We just didn’t get it done,” Livermore Falls coach Brian Dube said. “When they got people in scoring position, they were able to get them in. We were one hit away from making it a good game several times, but they kept adding on.”

The Andies closed to within 4-2 in the fourth on a Caleb Baron (three hits) infield single and a couple of wild pitches by Staires. A Livermore error in the bottom of the frame helped the Falcons get the run right back against reliever Derek Castonguay on a Ryan Laubauskas sac fly.

Another Andies’ run in the fifth on Kyle Stebbins’ RBI single was answered in triplicate in the bottom of the frame. Anthony Vitale started the inning with a pinch-hit single, and with the help of an error, run-scoring singles by Staires and Ryan Laubauskas put the Falcons up 8-3.

“I was pleased with the way we hit. Those are two really good hitters,” LaPointe said. “It was a total team effort. You get a kid like Vitale coming in and ripping that first pitch and get that inning going, that’s a total team effort.”

The Andies got a run back in the sixth, but McPherson got James McLamb to ground into a double play to keep the lead at four. McPherson issued a leadoff walk in the seventh and was relieved by Connor Blais, who walked the first batter he faced. But McPherson made a nice diving catch on a Stebbins fly to short right-center and doubled up pinch-runner Hunter Britt at first.

“I thought I had a chance,” McPherson said. “I got a good jump on it. The sun was in my eyes a little bit, too, but I got to it in time.”