DIXFIELD — Mike Bryant spent his Saturday afternoon climbing out of holes.

On the mound, where the St. Dom’s junior fell behind Dirigo by three runs, five batters into the first inning. And in the batter’s box, where Gavin Arsenault and Kaine Hutchins made a habit of putting him in a no-ball, two-strike conundrum.

“Mike stayed within himself,” St. Dom’s coach Bob Blackman said. “He didn’t let that first inning get the best of him.”

It influenced everything else Bryant did for the duration, and the rest is Class C West history. No. 3 St. Dom’s rallied for an 8-4 victory over No. 2 Dirigo and reached the regional title game for the 11th time in 12 years.

Eleven was a magic number for Bryant — his strikeout total, compared to one walk. He held Dirigo to six hits, and not one from the second inning through the sixth.

“I wasn’t throwing that many balls in the first inning. It’s just that they were hitting them,” Bryant said. “I worked with Coach on things all week to get my form down. The first inning they hit a few, but I just buckled down. My fastball was on, my curveball was on, and I mixed them up pretty well.”

St. Dom’s (14-4) will meet undefeated Sacopee Valley of South Hiram on Tuesday at Saint Joseph’s College in Standish. Dirigo (14-4) was the two-time defending state champion.

The Saints scored five runs on the strength of only three hits, two walks, a hit batter, an ill-advised fielder’s choice and a throwing error in the top of the fifth. It transformed a 4-2 deficit into a 7-4 lead.

Between walks and Mitch Lorenz getting plunked twice, Dirigo pitching issued 10 free passes.

“A couple of mental errors hurt us a little bit,” Dirigo coach Ryan Palmer said. “Walks and mental errors will kill you, especially against a good team.”

Matt Keaney led off the fifth with a walk, ending left-hander Arsenault’s start.

Hutchins got Caleb Dostie to fly out, but Mike Richard’s single triggered a harrowing stretch for the Cougars. Lorenz was hit to load the bases.

Then came Bryant’s second bases-loaded walk of the day after falling behind 0-2.

“At that point (Hutchins) likes to throw a fastball up and try to mix it in,” Bryant said “I was laying off and looking to foul off anything close. I just had the at bat I normally like to have. I went up and battled back.”

Ryan Harvey’s RBI single tied it. Ray Mosca followed with a medium-speed roller to first. After Dirigo’s late decision to throw home to Tyler Frost, Lorenz slid in safely and Bryant followed suit after the throw sailed to the backstop.

Dillon Pratt (2-for-3, one run) added an RBI single for St. Dom’s, which sent 11 hitters to the plate in the inning.

St. Dom’s also scored two big runs in the third to drive up Arsenault’s pitch count and turn over its lineup.

Pratt singled and later scored after the Cougars booted Dostie’s ground ball, leading to two errors on the same play. Bryant’s two-out comeback to get aboard provided the second run and was a sign of things to come.

“That was where we thought we stumbled at the end of the year,” Blackman said. “A couple of soft lefties really slowed us down. We refocused, worked on staying inside the baseball and hitting it where it’s pitched.”

It looked like business as usual for the defending champions in the first.

Arsenault retired St. Dom’s in order, striking out Richard and Lorenz for the exclamation point. Dirigo then used consecutive singles by Frost, Jack Brown, Hutchins and Anthony Todd to take a 3-0 lead.

“We wanted to get off to a fast start. Get them out quick and get some runs in,” Palmer said. “They did everything we asked to start.”

Dirigo went up 4-2 when Frost drew a leadoff walk, hustled all the way to third base when nobody covered after Brown’s sacrifice bunt, and scored on Hutchins’ sacrifice fly.

Bryant picked off Todd at first base to end the third. From there, he sat down seven consecutive Cougars.

“Adrenaline took over for him,” Palmer said.

“We’re not used to playing Dirigo at this point,” Bryant added. “We came into this game after (a quarterfinal win over) Winthrop with heads high knowing we could beat them. We beat them once this year already.”

Chase Hainey had an RBI single against Frost in the seventh.

Brian Volkernick and Matt Irish singled to start Dirigo’s final raps before Bryant buckled down. He struck out Mitch Kubesh, got a grounder from Arsenault and fanned Frost to end it.

Dirigo was seeking its fourth state title in five seasons.

“To lose seven starters from the year before and be 14-4 is just a remarkable season,” Palmer said. “We were tough on them all year. The bar was raised high. At points it wasn’t fair to them. They did everything we asked and then some.”