FALMOUTH — There was a zero in every box on Poland’s side of the scoreboard Tuesday afternoon.

Funny what happens when you pair one of those goose eggs with the short stroke of a pencil.

Poland pushed across 10 runs in a dream fifth inning that was simultaneously Falmouth’s worst nightmare, cannonballing the No. 10 Knights to a 10-7 triumph over the No. 7 Yachtsmen in a Western Class B softball preliminary.

Fifteen Knights walked to the plate in the fateful fifth. No. 9 hitter Paige Brousseau delivered two of Poland’s eight hits in the frame. Falmouth fueled the fire with its only three errors of the afternoon.

The reward for Poland (11-6): A quarterfinal date at 3:30 p.m. Thursday at No. 2 Cape Elizabeth. Falmouth finished at 9-8.

“Sometimes with our team it seems like we take a couple of innings. Last time we played these guys we didn’t score until the bottom of the sixth. We scored two runs,” Poland coach Kat McKay said. “That was a well-played game by both teams. Again, this was a well-played game. We just had to find the ball.”

Poland also had to find its emotional center after its own sudden unraveling led to a 4-0 deficit in the third.

Knights starter Kylie Martin appeared to have an uneventful 1-2-3 inning locked up, but Poland dropped an infield pop-up and Krysia Lesniak wound up safe at first.

Maddie Inlow’s walk led to Julia Treadwell’s RBI single, which set the table for Elizabeth Walker’s monstrous home run 30 feet beyond the fence in straightaway center field.

“A bunch of girls dropped their heads, but we came in and got our bats going,” said sophomore Kolby Woods, who warmed up in the bullpen during the quick barrage. “I had faith in them that they could do it.”

McKay saw the forlorn looks, also.

“One of our coaches said a game’s not a sprint. It’s a marathon, and that’s what our girls had to realize,” she said. “I mean, that girl crushed one. It was an unbelievable hit. That kind of killed our spirit a little bit. We just had to get them back on track.”

Poland’s revival started innocently, with an infield single by Haley Whitworth. It was only the third hit off Falmouth starter Treadwell.

She wouldn’t escape the inning. Michaella Arsenault’s sacrifice bunt attempt drew a late throw and a dropped ball at first, leaving both Poland runners safe.

Amanda Gibson singled, and another beautifully placed bunt produced Brousseau’s first hit of the inning. Treadwell struck out Kelsey Deburra to briefly stem the tide, but Brittina Maheux mashed a double for two runs and Lindsey Theriault laced a single for two more and a 5-4 lead.

Melora Lavoie and Martin each singled to chase Treadwell, and reliever Amanda Carver couldn’t catch a break, either. Additional hits by Arsenault and Brousseau, combined with two errors in the middle infield, a wild pitch and a passed ball led to the double-digit total.

“Our wheels came off a little bit. They just capitalized after that,” Falmouth coach Ray Fox said. “We panicked a couple of times.”

To Falmouth’s credit, it answered with three runs on four hits in the bottom of the fifth, ending the day for Martin.

Singles by Walker, Alyse Bazinet and Chelsea Fagan and Carver’s double on a misjudged fly ball cut the deficit in half. Woods entered the game and snagged a line drive off the bat of Jayde Bazinet to retire the side.

“I knew I had my team behind me, so I just went in there and threw what I could,” Woods said.

Martin, who moved to 9-1 with the win, and Woods both are sophomores. Woods pitched the previous 2-0 shutout against Falmouth and had one other save, protecting a late-season win over Freeport.

“We’ve got an excellent pitching staff. We’ve got two,” McKay said. “They’ve got each other’s backs. If one of them’s got the lead, the other’s going to keep it.”

Both Poland pitchers finished with three strikeouts. Woods surrendered only one hit and walked two.

Brousseau went 3-for-4 and Theriault, Whitworth and Gibson each had two hits for Poland. Walker was a triple away from the cycle for Falmouth, which reached the playoffs on the strength of its first winning season since 2003.

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