READFIELD — Ethan Cailler’s 4 1/3 innings of shutout relief in Tuesday’s Western Class B preliminary round game may not have been his most dominant outing this season, but it was unquestionably the sophomore right-hander’s best work in his young varsity baseball career.

Cailler needed two pitches to work out of a bases loaded, two out jam in the the third inning, then shut down No. 7 Maranacook the rest of the way while No. 10 Poland’s offense erupted for its best performance of the year in an 8-3 win.

The Knights (10-7) advance to face No. 2 Falmouth (14-2) in the quarterfinals. The Yachtsmen won both of the meetings between the Western Maine Conference rivals this year, 10-0 and 11-7.

Cailler got the call after the Black Bears (9-8) threatened to break a 3-3 tie by loading the bases against Poland starter Jake Simard with two out in the third inning. After throwing a first-pitch strike to Jake Murphy, he induced a ground out to second to end the inning. He allowed just two hits and a walk the rest of the way.

“I’m not really a strikeout pitcher. I’m more of a ground ball pitcher,” said Cailler, who fanned two and got nine ground balls among his 13 outs. “I just wanted to throw strikes and rely on the defense. We’ve got a good defense.”

“He’s been gradually coming along,” Poland coach Mike Connor said. “I give him an inning here, then we broke him out to two innings. The Gray game (in which he struck out 11 in 3 2/3 innings in late May) was really his, ‘Here I am.’ Playoff game, he was the guy.”

Poland’s offense was much more than one guy. Eight of nine starters collected at least one hit, led by Bill Bickford, Lukas Johnson and Matt Jipson with two apiece, and two-run doubles by Corey Cunliffe and Kaleb Bridgham.

After seeing just six pitches in a 1-2-3 first inning, the Knights made Maranacook starter Zach Elwell work. Elwell hit the wall in the sixth inning, and Poland pounced for five runs to break the 3-3 tie.

“They picked the right day to do it,” Connor said. “The first inning,  I started to get a little worried when the guys we rely on went down without much effort. Then everybody else kind of picked them up today. It’s good to see.”

The top of the order came through in the big inning. With a runner on and one out, Bickford and Simard singled, loading the bases for Bridgham. Jipson, who reached on a fielder’s choice earlier in the inning, scored what proved to be the winning run when Elwell’s 0-2 fastball to Bridgham sailed high and off the catcher’s glove and to the backstop.

Bridgham golfed the next pitch, a low breaking ball, over the center fielder’s head, for a double to drive in Bickford and Simard. Johnson plated him with a ground rule double, and C.J. Martin added an RBI single to make it 8-3.

The day started out promisingly for the Black Bears’ bats. They stroked four hits off Simard in the first inning, including an RBI double by Tucker Whitman and an RBI single by Elwell to take a quick 2-0 lead.

The Knights cut the lead in half in the second when Martin scored on Jipson’s two-out single to center. Connor waived Shawn Murphy in behind him, but Elwell’s relay throw beat him to the plate, preserving the 2-1 lead.

“With two outs, we’ve got to make them make a play,” Connor said. “If there was one out, I’m holding him.”

Bickford and Simard scored easily on Cunliffe’s double that gave the Knights a 3-2 lead in the third. Kevin Johnson’s two-out single tied it in the bottom of the frame. Elwell and Matt Delmar followed with walks to chase Simard and introduce Cailler.

“He’s only had maybe 12 innings going into this game because he’s had two good juniors in front of him in the rotation,” Connor said. “I feel pretty comfortable throwing him out there in tough situations at this point.”

The closest Cailler came to trouble again was with two out in the fourth, when Nick Lacasse (three hits) stole second and advanced to third when the catcher’s throw went into center field. Cailler painted the black with his 1-2 pitch to fan Whitman. Maranacook had only one runner reach second base after that.

“I relied on my curve ball. I have a change-up, but I didn’t throw it today,” Cailler. said. “I was throwing a two-seam (fastball) some, but not much. It was curve ball, fastball.

“He mixed his speeds up real well,” Maranacook coach Eric Brown said. “He had just enough zip on that fastball and then he changed speeds on us and hit his locations. He was the difference-maker in the game.”