JAY – Jay was cruising with an 8-1 lead behind ace pitcher Josh Armandi. Looking ahead, the Tigers made a strategic move that almost backfired.

With Armandi off the mound, Boothbay furiously rallied back, but Jay escaped with an 8-7 win in the Western Class C semifinals.

Jay (13-5), the defending state champions, advances to play in the regional final Wednesday against St. Dom’s at Gorham.

The Tigers removed Armandi with one out in the sixth inning. Brandon Purington came in for relief, but six of the seven batters he faced reached safely. The Seahawks’ Jeff Barrett, Matt Higgins, Brian Babcock each scored.

Armandi had taken a fielding position and was still eligible to pitch. After Ben Nickerson hit a two-run single to cut Jay’s lead to 8-6, Armandi struck out Will Carroll to end the inning.

“Boy, did I almost have egg on my face,” Jay coach Chris Bessey said. “The idea on taking Josh out was to save him for this Wednesday. He had thrown 70 pitches and then when Brandon came in, (Boothbay) did not hit him that hard, but things happened.”

Boothbay threatened again in the seventh as Barrett reached on a fielders’ choice and eventually scored on a Babcock ground out. The potential tying run was 90 feet away, but Jay first baseman A.J. Nelson snared a sharp grounder for the final out of the game.

“We wanted this one bad,” Boothbay coach Bill Arsenault said. “We almost came back and Casey Latter had a good at bat, but the fielder was playing back.”

Jay had scored six runs in the second inning on an RBI double by Nelson, a Jake Turner RBI single and a bases-loaded walk to Ryan DiPompo. The Tigers’s Austin Ouellette and Purington each scored in the fourth.