DIXFIELD — Ben Holmes knows pressure like a diamond.

As a sophomore, he started for a state championship baseball team. As a junior, he followed a Fitzpatrick Trophy finalist as Dirigo’s quarterback. As a senior, he came up clutch in a state championship basketball game after suffering crushing defeats in three previous tries.

There isn’t much Holmes hasn’t seen in his four-year athletic career at Dirigo. Between baseball, basketball and football, the Cougars have played in six state and seven western Maine championship games.

Whether it was learning from the sidelines for his freshman and part of his sophomore year, or in the thick of the action on the diamond, gridiron or court the past two-plus years, Holmes has had a lot of time to practice his poise.

It should not come as a surprise, then, that Holmes will take a nail-biter over laugher any day.

“I always play for the moment,” he said. “I’ve always liked a closer pitchers’ duel over a 10-run blowout.”

Not that his demeanor changes in either case.

“He is the type of pitcher that nothing fazes him,” Dirigo coach Ryan Palmer said. “No matter how things are going, he just keeps the same expression on his face. He takes the mound expecting to win.”

More often than not, that is the result when Holmes takes the mound. Since losing a 4-2 pitchers’ duel with St. Dom’s and Jimmy Theriault in the season-opener, the Cougars have won 14 straight, including a 13-6 revenge win over the Saints a little over a week ago.

Holmes is the latest in a troika of aces that has made the Cougars a Mountain Valley Conference powerhouse over the past four years, following Ryan Lafleur and Arik Fenstermacher.

Holmes went into his junior year as the heir apparent to Fenstermacher. But when Fenstermacher started experiencing some arm trouble, he had to be elevated into the lead role. He led the team in victories and got the starting nod against St. Dom’s in the regional championship. He pitched four solid innings, leaving with the Cougars trailing, 2-1, before they imploded for six errors and lost to the eventual state champions, 7-6.

“He accepted the challenge and did well with it,” Palmer said, “but you could see he was timid at times.”

Holmes credits overcoming his diffidence in part to his good friend Fenstermacher, who told him to be more confident in his off-speed pitches.

“The biggest thing he taught me last year was I’ve got to throw my changeup,” Holmes said. “It’s been effective. I think I’ve had nine or 10 strikeouts with it.”

Everything has been effective for Holmes this year, whether it’s his change, low-80s fastball (two-seam and four-seam) or curve. At a lanky 6-foot-1, he has the frame to go with the mentality of a work horse.

“He has the perfect pitcher’s body,” Palmer said. “He has a lot of power in his legs. And his mechanics are dead-on.”

Holmes tossed a no-hit, one-walk gem in a 2-0 win over Wiscasset last Friday. The week before, he had a perfect game going against Winthrop for three innings but was pulled by Palmer so he would be at full strength for the St. Dom’s start.

“Anything for the betterment of the team, for me to be ready for the next game or get (fellow pitchers) Spencer (Trenoweth) or Cody (St. Germain) in to get some work,” Holmes said.

“Ben has been A-OK with only going three innings even when he had the perfect game going against Winthrop,” Palmer said. “He’s a team player.”

The no-hitter was Holmes’ 20th career win, according to Palmer, tying the school career record by Lafleur. That record is in dispute, however. Palmer counts the Winthrop start and another three-inning start in which Holmes left with the lead as victories. NFHS rules state a starter must pitch at least four innings to get the victory in a seven-inning game.

With one regular season game remaining and an anticipated deep run into the Class C playoffs, Holmes should have a chance to remove all doubt about the record. He admitted it was one of his goals going into his senior year, but is more focused on getting another regional championship start.

“Ryan and Arik have been great pitchers here. It’s nice to have your name along those lines with those people,” Holmes said. “I just want to avenge that (Western Maine) loss. That was a rough game.”

This year, the Cougars are the ones putting opposing pitchers through the ringer. With Holmes anchoring the lineup in the cleanup slot and batting over .400, they’re averaging nine runs per game.

Dirigo currently holds the top spot in the Western C Heal Point standings. If Holmes and his fellow seniors are to add another championship to their impressive collection, they will have to go through a gauntlet of contenders, including St. Dom’s and Telstar, which Dirigo faces Wednesday in its regular-season finale.

To Holmes, more hardware would be icing on the cake. Asked what was the most pressure he’s felt in his career, he quickly pointed to the Class C state basketball championship over Lee Academy last March. As the Cougars’ starting power forward, he scored 13 of his 18 points in the second half to help lead them to the elusive title.

“That was a lot of pressure. The last three years, we couldn’t get it done. It was our last chance. It was an amazing feeling after winning that game,” he said.

Recapturing that feeling this spring will require more poise, something Dirigo’s ace has in spades.