AUBURN – St. Dom’s’ Western Maine Conference swan song ended much the same way the vast majority of its conference clashes for the last decade did – with a win.

Chris Bryant and Greg LaBonte combined on a six-hit shutout as the Saints blanked their eighth opponent of the season with a 4-0 triumph over Poland.

The Saints (15-1), who will move to the Mountain Valley Conference next season, head into the Western C playoffs as the top seed. The Knights (5-11) will miss the Western B playoffs for the second year in a row.

LaBonte powered the Saints’ offense, going 3-for-3 with a triple and two RBIs. Casey Parker added a triple and an RBI.

“We had some guys at the top of the order that made some pretty good contact today, and that’s kind of what’s been happening down the stretch,” Saints coach Bob Blackman said. “They’ve been aggressive and hitting the ball hard. We’ve got five guys that are in a pretty good groove.”

The Saints got into their groove early against Poland starter Mike Littlefield, thanks in part to an error that put Parker on base to lead off the bottom of the first. Following a sacrifice bunt, LaBonte ripped a triple to left to send Parker home. LaBonte then made it 2-0 by racing home on a double steal.

“Coach Blackman told us if (Littlefield) is going to throw you a fastball early in the count, jump on it. Be aggressive,” LaBonte said. “It’s not like we haven’t seen anything like him before.”

Littlefield (six innings, three earned runs, seven hits, seven Ks, no walks) settled down after the first and gave the Knights a chance to get back in the game with his arm and his bat.

“Mike pitched well,” Poland coach Don King said. “He had a little less velocity today but I think he was a better pitcher. He threw his off-speed stuff really well and mixed it in pretty well.”

Bryant (six innings, six hits, fivs Ks, four walks) cruised through the Poland order the first trip through, then ran into some trouble in the third and fourth. He yielded back-to-back singles with two out in each frame but preserved the shutout with a pop out and fly out.

“We were a couple of big hits away,” King said. “A two-out hit would be amazing. That’s been a little bit of our story all season.”

Littlefield put Bryant in hot water to start the fifth, blasting a double over LaBonte’s head in center field that was one of the longest drives ever hit in the Saints’ spacious ballpark. After a strikeout and an intentional walk, a wild pitch moved the tying runs into scoring position.

Bryant clamped down, getting Casey Ray swinging on a full count. After a walk to Trey Ouellette, Matt Brewster lined out to first base to end the Knights’ best, and as it turned out, last true threat.

“I had to battle,” Bryant said. “I just had to throw strikes. I’ve got a good defense behind me, so I know if I throw strikes and work the count a little, I can get some ground balls and get out of it.”

“That’s been kind of his m.o. this year, different than in years past,” Blackman said. “When guys get on, he’s really focused and he’s gotten out of some jams.”

The Saints gave Bryant some more breathing room in the bottom of fifth as Parker laced an RBI triple and scored on LaBonte’s single. Bryant worked around a leadoff walk in the sixth before giving way to LaBonte, who tossed a scoreless inning of relief.