SOUTH PARIS — Oxford Hills leadoff hitter Nick Bowie admitted he was far from comfortable in his first two plate appearances against Brunswick pitcher John Parker on Wednesday at Don Gouin Athletic Complex.

Bowie struck out looking in his first plate appearance, grounded weakly to third to end the second inning, and fell into a quick two-strike hole in the fourth with the bases loaded and two outs in a tight 2-1 Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference baseball game.

Parker made one mistake, and Bowie took advantage, driving the offering over the head of the Brunswick center fielder for a three-run triple in a 5-1 victory.

The win, the seventh straight for the Vikings, gives Oxford Hills an 8-1 mark. Up next is a showdown with Hampden Academy at home on Friday at 4 p.m. The Broncos sit atop the Eastern Maine Class A Heal Point Standings, with the Vikings in second.

Meanwhile, Brunswick fell to 2-7 and visits Lawrence on Friday.

“He threw a high fastball, my favorite pitch, and I got a good piece,” said Bowie, who praised Parker. “He is a good pitcher, with a good fastball and an ability to keep you off-balance with his curve. But our defense made some good plays to keep the lead, and we scored some runs here and there.”

“I don’t know how good we are, but we have found ways to win in those close situations, getting a big triple and a couple sacrifice flyballs,” said Oxford Hills coach Shane Slicer. “Nick made a great adjustment in that third at-bat, and it was nice to see him square it up after not having a good time before that.”

Winning hurler Walter Feeney pitched out of several tight spots.

In the first frame, Brunswick’s Adam Casey walked with two outs and scampered to third on a base hit by Brett Lancaster, who took second on an error. But, Feeney induced a flyball to end the threat.

Oxford Hills jumped on top in its first cracks at Carter. Back-to-back singles by Matt Beauchesne and Dalton Rice put two runners on with one out. Dylan Cox followed with a walk to load the bases, and Jordan Croteau lifted a sacrifice fly for a 1-0 Vikings lead.

Brunswick tied the game in the second as Charlie Lowell tripled to deep right field and scored on a groundball by Carter. Derek Devereaux and Ryan Maciejewski followed with singles, but Feeney worked his way out of further damage with a strikeout, one of three for the lefty.

Oxford Hills took the lead for good in the second. Ty Martin, who was 2-for-3 singled, was sacrifice to second, took third on a Parker wild pitch and scored on a sacrifice fly by No. 9 hitter Ben Bowie.

Brunswick again threatened in the third. Casey doubled and Brett Lancaster was hit by a pitch, putting two Dragon base runners on with no outs. Again, Feeney frustrated Brunswick, retiring the next three hitters to keep his team in front.

Through three innings, the Dragons left six runners on base, all in scoring position.

“We were one hit away,” said Brunswick coach Bill Ridge, whose Dragons outhit the Vikings 8-7. “We got runners on against the best team in the conference, but we didn’t get the big hit when we needed it. We had two runners on in the first inning and didn’t score. We had a lead-off double in the third and didn’t score. Those are runs that you have to get in.”

“He does give us a heart attack sometimes, but he is 4-0 now and has given us some quality starts,” said Slicer of Feeney, who pitched five innings (seven hits, three walks, 75 pitches). “Pitching and defense has been solid. We haven’t given up more than four runs, we play good defense and we don’t walk a lot of kids. We had some extra-inning games, and the kids don’t get nervous and can execute just about anything. We find ways to win.”

Oxford Hills’ big inning came in the fourth. With one out, Nick Dyer and Martin singled and Nick Attaliades walked to load the bases. Parker struck out Ben Bowie, but hung a two-strike pitch to Nick Bowie, who cleared the bases.

Parker threw 104 pitches, with four strikeouts and two walks.

“John is as good as it gets in this conference, and when we send him out there we 100 percent expect him to win,” said Ridge. “It was a good performance against Oxford Hills. John didn’t have his best stuff, but he had a solid outing. We try to get him out there every chance we can.”

Garrett Fillebrown relieved Feeney to begin the sixth inning and retired six of the seven Dragons he faced. Fillebrown struck out one and allowed one hit for the save.

Rice was 2-for-3 at the plate for Oxford Hills, while Lancaster paced the Dragons with a pair of hits.