DIXFIELD — With apologies to LL Cool J: Don’t call it an upset. St. Dom’s has been here for years.

Led by the live, rested arm of senior Mike Bryant, the Saints looked like the same baseball club Thursday they’ve been for a decade-and-a-half, no matter what the Heal Points or Class C West tournament say about them.

Bryant struck out 10, allowed only one earned run and didn’t surrender a hit after the second inning, staking No. 8 St. Dom’s to a 5-2 quarterfinal ouster of No. 1 Dirigo at Harlow Park.

“They’re probably the best-hitting team I’m ever going to face,” Bryant said. “They were No. 1 for a reason. I struggled in the first inning, but I was able to bear down after that.”

St. Dom’s (13-5) turned its season around after Bryant (4-0, 0.48 ERA) recovered from a hamstring pull. The Saints have won 10 of 11 since his return going into Saturday’s semifinal at No. 5 Maranacook.

Five third-inning runs on one hit — a sacrifice bunt attempt by Justin Keaney that dropped 10 feet in front of the plate and turned into a single — and three Dirigo errors erased a 2-0 deficit.

“Mike just got stronger as the game went on. It was tough to ignore that,” St. Dom’s coach Bob Blackman said. “His curveball was tight. He could throw it where he wanted to. His fastball he could locate all day long, in and out, in and out. It took a lot of pressure off our fielders.”

Keaney’s squibber was the only St. Dom’s hit of the day. The Saints have three, total, in tournament wins over Madison and now Dirigo.

Nate Richard and Matt Keaney drew walks to set up the younger Keaney’s attempt to advance the runners, which didn’t proceed the way it was designed from the get-go.

“Coach called time and told me just to get it down the baseline and do my job,” Keaney said. “It was close. I popped it up and had a heart attack there for a second, but got it down somehow.”

Dirigo starting pitcher Gavin Arsenault, catcher Tyler Frost and first baseman Nick St. Germain converged, all diving after the ball to no avail.

Ray Mosca followed with the Saints’ only RBI of the afternoon, a fielder’s choice to produce the first run. Arsenault struck out Bryant before plunking Mitch Lorenz to load the bases again.

Two consecutive infield errors, followed by a wild pickoff attempt, produced the crooked number on the scoreboard.

“I think that really picked up our team. It showed that we can get ahead of these guys and that they make mistakes, too,” Keaney said.

Two errors and two walks were the only open door for Dirigo (15-2) after the Saints’ big inning. Only two additional runners reached scoring position. Bryant struck out the side in the third and seventh.

“You can’t give Mike Bryant five runs. You can’t give St. Dom’s five runs. You can’t give five unearned runs,” Dirigo coach Ryan Palmer said. “It was a shell shock, because we’re up 2-0 and flying high, and boom, like that we’re down 5-2.”

Dirigo scored single runs in the first and second but had chances to break it open wider.

Mitch Kubesh walked, went to second on a passed ball and scored on Arsenault’s single in the first. St. Dom’s turned Frost’s line drive into a double play to avoid further damage.

The Cougars had runners at the corners with none out in the second after an error and a Nick Hall single, but a miscommunication involving Dirigo’s signs led to Hall’s demise on an attempted steal. Cooper Chiasson scored on a booted grounder with two out.

“I think the nerves were there in the beginning,” Bryant said. “Big game like this, everybody has them. After that I was able to bear down, be confident and do what I do.”

Kaine Hutchins had the only other hit for Dirigo. He also threw four innings of hitless relief for the Cougars, who were denied a chance to win their fourth Class C title in six years.

St. Dom’s continues its push toward a 12th regional finals appearance in 13 seasons. Bryant and the Saints beat the Cougars here in the semis a year ago.

“We’re never going to make excuses, because you have to play them all, anyway. But it was a tough quarterfinal game. We knew it was not a good draw,” Palmer said. “Kaine and Tyler, especially, my heart breaks for them, because they’ve been all in for four years. They’re going to be very hard to replace.”

koakes@sunjournal.com

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