It wasn’t.

The late-arriving among the Dragons’ supporters missed a firestorm in their team’s favor as No. 9-seeded Brunswick plated 11 runs on seven hits and four errors in the top of the first on their way to a 19-6 win over No. 8 Edward Little in their Eastern Class A preliminary round matchup.

“We came in prepared. The kids were really focused on the task at hand,” Brunswick coach Luke Potter said. “Edward Little is a great baseball team. They have a great history of hitting well … We knew we had to come out ready to pop. The baseball gods were shining on us a little bit today.”

“There was this whole debate, ‘Who do you pitch?'” EL coach Scott Annear said. “You know what? It didn’t matter. They were on everybody. They hit them all. They just flat out hit. Breaking balls, fastballs, changeups, they hit it all … They were just dialed in.”

This offensive explosion came from a Brunswick team that scored 53 runs all season. The Dragons’ 19 runs Tuesday were two more than they’d scored in their previous nine games combined.

“You don’t have to remind me,” Potter said, shaking his head.

Chuck Lowell was 3-for-3 with two walks and three runs scored, leading the Dragons (8-9) offensively on a day when many of the team’s players had good numbers. All nine starting players for Brunswick crossed the plate at least once in the first inning. Leadoff hitter Brady Larson scored four times — twice in the first.

“That’s beyond wishing and hoping,” Potter said. “We came out and thumped the ball. That’s no slight on them. We just saw it really well.”

With the 11-0 cushion before he took the hill, John Parker settled in against an Edward Little lineup that had rattled the Dragons for five runs and a win earlier in the season. Even with the lead, Potter preached defense.

“As lucky as we were to get those in the first inning, I communicated to them that (EL) wasn’t going to sleep. They weren’t going to give the game away,” Potter said.

Parker went three innings, allowed two hits and induced nine ground balls, keeping the Red Eddies at bay.

EL starter Nate Pushard lasted just a third of an inning, surrendering all 11 runs before being replaced by Mike Hammond.

Hammond fared better at first and stopped the bleeding, until the top of the fourth. Brunswick’s bats got hot again. Will Bessey, Elias Henze and Pearson Cost ripped singles to load the bases with no outs. Ryan Brescia reached on an error by Pushard, who was still in the game at third, plating Bessey. Henze scored on a balk, Larson reached on an error as Cost scored, and all runners advanced on a double deep to right-center by Adam Casey. Casey and Lowell ultimately scored in the inning, as well, pushing Brunswick’s lead to 18-0.

EL finally started to find some traction at the plate in the fourth, scoring twice as Kyle Karkos and Lew Jensen scampered home on a pair of sacrifices and a single from Elijah Rowe.

“We were hoping,” Annear said. “You never know in this game. You run everything out that you can, you make your throws. I didn’t feel like we gave away any at-bats.”

After Brunswick tacked on one more in the fifth on a hit-by-pitch, two walks and a hit, the EL bats continued to heat up against the Dragons’ third pitcher, Nick Thibeault. The Eddies (8-9) pushed across four runs on three hits and two walks in the home half of what turned out to be the final inning of a game shortened by the mercy rule.

The ninth-seeded Dragons are scheduled to face No. 1 Bangor in the Eastern A quarterfinal round Thursday, a matchup Potter is looking forward to since he’ll have a full arsenal of pitching after pulling Parker after three on Tuesday.

“It’ll be all hands on deck for sure,” he said. “My hope is that we’ll stay confident. I’m glad we’re going to get to see them again. I’m nervous about it because they’re a good baseball team.”