LEWISTON — Sacrifice was the name of Luke Cote’s game Saturday afternoon.

Even as the No. 3 hitter in Lewiston’s lineup, Cote was preoccupied with his other assignment. He was willing to go 0-for-the-semifinals if it meant repeatedly serving up that same number in Erskine’s column.

“I just knew I had to do one job: Pitch,” Cote said. “I didn’t even worry about my hitting much.”

Cote paid enough attention at the plate to loft a sacrifice fly to right field, allowing Corbin Hyde to cross the plate in the bottom of the first inning.

It was hard to imagine at the time, but that was all Cote and Lewiston needed. The senior spun a two-hit shutout with 11 strikeouts, staking the No. 2 Devils to a 1-0 win over the No. 6 Eagles in an Eastern Class A playoff at Franklin Pasture.

“It seems like we’ve been waiting all season for that big hit,” Lewiston coach Todd Cifelli said. “But in the playoffs we’ve at least put ourselves in position to get something.”

Lewiston (15-3) is in position to defend its regional championship. That game is 5 p.m. Tuesday against fourth-seeded Messalonskee at Morton Field in Augusta.

The rest of the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference likely considers Cote the vice chairman of Lewiston’s starting rotation, behind Hyde. But the equally battle-tested Cote flaunted ace-like stuff on a giant stage.

He was sensational throughout, from striking out the side in the first inning to retiring the order on five pitches in the seventh.

Tom Grady’s single in the second and John Suga’s base hit in the sixth were the only serious damage inflicted by the Eagles (11-7).

Erskine threatened in the sixth when Josh Bailey reached first base on a dropped third strike in front of Suga’s two-out single.

Cote issued an intentional pass to Shyler Scates before Ryan Rodrigue struck out on three pitches to end the inning.

Rodrigue was a fourth-inning replacement for cleanup hitter Ryan Pulver, who was ejected for arguing with an umpire after an inning-ending groundout in the fourth.

“It allowed them to walk a .500 hitter and pitch to a freshman,” Erskine coach Lars Jonassen said. “I don’t like a game with that kind of animosity between players and umpires. I don’t like having my players thrown out. It’s just a little thing. You have to get past it, because if you don’t, how are you going to handle the big things in life like cancer or a death in your family?”

Lewiston rode out its share of controversy, too.

Alex Small was doubled up at home to end the fifth inning after a fly to left field by Cote. Cifelli argued that Erskine catcher Brenden Wood never controlled the ball before applying the tag.

That was the Devils’ best scoring bid against Grady, who came in from center field to pitch after four of the first five batters reached base against left-handed starter Tyler Belanger.

Grady struck out Eric Soucy to leave the bases loaded in the first. He gave up only two hits while striking out seven and walking two.

“Maybe thinking back I should have started him, but you can’t look at it that way,” Jonassen said.

Lewiston split its regular-season series with Erskine, facing Belanger once.

“We were kind of surprised they went away from the first kid so quickly,” Lewiston‘s Shawn Ricker said. “We knew what he had. We practiced for a lefty and trying to hit the outside pitch the other way.”

Erskine couldn’t have done much to prepare for Cote.

He masterfully painted the corners through the first five innings. And when his control started to slip away later in the afternoon, even that seemed to play into his hand.

“They were guessing at the end, so that helped a lot,” Cote said. “In that last inning I was just trying to get them out of there as fast as we could.”

“There aren’t many guys who want the ball more than Luke,” Ricker said. “I love playing shortstop when he pitches.”

Ricker had two of three hits for Lewiston. The Devils didn’t commit an error.

koakes@sunjournal.com

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