LEWISTON – Mt. Ararat and Lewiston’s paths crossed Wednesday sharing the same record but headed in opposite directions.

Mt. Ararat’s 19-9 win in six innings continued the trend, and illustrated exactly why.

The Eagles took advantage of three Blue Devil errors and scored eight runs before they recorded an out in the first inning. The Devils, to their credit, made Eagles pitchers work and managed to throw a brief scare into them before a six-run sixth put the game away for Mt. Ararat.

“We’re having a heck of a time right now playing defense,” said Lewiston coach Todd Cifelli, whose team committed four errors overall. “Until we clean up our defense, we’re going to have days like this.”

Mt. Ararat pounded out 17 hits. Cam Morrill drove in three runs with a double and single. Anthony Farrell and Matt Bickford, the Eagles’ No. 7 and 8 hitters, sparked the offense by combining for seven hits, and six runs scored.

“I don’t see us as having a bottom of the order. We hit one through nine,” Mt. Ararat coach Craig Rogers said. “Even the guys that aren’t hitting for great averages have great on-base percentages. I feel confident we can start a rally anywhere in our lineup.”

Farrell laid down a bunt single and Matt and Tim Bickford each belted two-run singles to cap the eight-run first for the Eagles. They added two runs apiece in the second and third and a single tally in the fourth to keep the Devils at a relatively safe distance.

Scott Ouellette had an RBI single as Lewiston (6-6) plated two runs in the first. Jeff Keene, Ben Wigant and David Ouellette added RBI singles and Scott Ouellette a sacrifice fly as the Blue Devils pulled to within 13-9 in the fourth.

John Frey, the Eagles’ fourth pitcher on the day, finally shut the door on Lewiston, but he nearly ran into a tough inning of his own before the Devils ran him out of it. They loaded the bases with nobody out in the fifth to bring the tying run to the plate. Robbie Leeman flew out to left and Alex Wong, who wandered too far off of second without tagging up, was doubled-up. Scott Ouellette grounded back to the mound to end the inning.

Tom Dunn’s two-run single highlighted the six-run sixth for Mt. Ararat.

After a rough start brought on by a number of starters being benched for disciplinary reasons, the Eagles (6-6) have won four straight and have reached the .500 mark for the first time since the opening week of the season. Their last five games prior to Wednesday were against some of the top teams in the KVAC – Edward Little, Bangor, Cony, Oxford Hills and Brunswick. The beat Cony, Oxford Hills and Brunswick.

“We’ve been hitting the ball real well and our defense has been coming around. Our pitching is, you know, a depends-who’s-on-the-mound kind of thing,” Rogers said. “It’d be nice to get everything running all together, and we’re gaining ground. Our personnel problems are all over with and I think we’re starting to jell.”

The Blue Devils, who were two spots behind the Eagles in the latest Heal Point standings, have now lost three straight.

“We’ve got a week of practice before our next game on Tuesday (against Oxford Hills),” Cifelli said. “We’re going to continue to work and we’re going to find the right combination for the stretch run.”