SEARSPORT – Infield defense has been a strength of the Searsport High baseball team this spring.

But when second baseman Ryan Shute misplayed a double-play grounder during the third inning of an Eastern C playoff game against Central of Corinth on Wednesday, the Vikings were in danger of giving up the big inning.

But Shute and his teammates got a second chance on the very next play, and this time he and shortstop Matt Nickerson turned the double play to end a bases-loaded threat – and turn the game’s momentum in a definitive way.

Searsport erupted for seven runs in the bottom of the third to break a 2-2 tie, and the Vikings went on to a 14-3 victory.

“That’s like the fourth or fifth time they’ve done that this year,” said Searsport coach David Pepin. “You couldn’t ask for a more crucial time to come up with a 6-4-3.”

The win sends No. 7 Searsport (12-5) to a quarterfinal against No. 2 Stearns (13-3) on Thursday at Millinocket.

No. 10 Central (10-7) took a 2-0 first-inning lead on RBI singles by Tristan Strout and Mike Julian, but Searsport tied the game on Matt Mercer’s RBI double in the first and an RBI fielder’s choice by Spencer Garton in the second.

Central threatened again in the third. Strout and Julian each hit a one-out single, and when Shute failed to come up with a grounder by Anthony Davis the bases were loaded.

Nick Lancisi then grounded to Nickerson, who charged the ball and flipped it to Shute, who recorded the force-out and quickly threw to Garton at first to complete the double play and end the threat.

“When the ball went between my legs I was sort of discouraged,” said Shute, “but I knew the opportunity was right there again to turn it and we did.”

Searsport sent 12 batters to the plate in the bottom of the inning to take a 9-2 lead. Nickerson had an RBI double and an RBI single during the rally, which also featured a two-run single by Jarrod Kronholm, and a run-scoring double by Drew Mercier and an RBI single by Elijah Brazier.

“We’ve been working a lot on hitting, we even went to Blackbeard’s this week to get some swings in,” said Pepin. “Today we put a big inning together like we’ve been looking for.”

Searsport had another big inning in the fourth, scoring five more runs in support of senior righthander Nick Dakin. The Vikings got run-scoring hits from freshman left fielder Caleb Ashey and pinch-hitter Sean Johnson, and capitalized on three Central errors to push their lead to 14-2.

“We just didn’t play very well at all today,” said Central coach Alan Strout. “It’s like a different team from last week. We made a lot of mental mistakes today, and I also take my hat off to them, they hit the ball well.”

VIKINGS 14, RED DEVILS 3

Central (10-7) Searsport (12-5)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

D. Kane 2b 3 0 0 0 Ashey lf 3 2 1

J. Kane ss 3 2 1 0 Brazier 3b 3 1 1

Strout 1b 3 1 2 1 Burke ph 1 1 0

Mi. Julian lf 3 0 3 1 M. Nickerson ss 3 2

Davis dh 3 0 1 0 Johnson ph 1 0 1

Parker p 0 0 0 0 Mercer cf 2 1 1

Malcolm p 0 0 0 0 McHatten ph 1 0 0

Lancisi rf 3 0 0 0 Adams rf 3 0 0

Smith c 1 0 1 0 Mercier c 1 3 1

Underhill cf 2 0 0 0 Dakin p 2 0 1 2

Ma. Julian 3b 2 0 0 0 J. Nickerson p 0 0

Garton 1b 1 2 0 1

Kronholm dh 2 1 1 2

Shute 2b 1 1 1 0

Totals 23 3 8 2 Totals 24 14 12 12

Central 200 01 ? 3

Searsport 117 5x ? 14

E?Smith 2, Parker, D. Kane; Brazier, Shute, Garton; LOB?Central 8, Searsport 5; 2B?Mercer, Nickerson, Mercier, Johnson; DP?Searsport 1; S?Underhill; SF?Dakin; SB?M. Nickerson 2, Garton 2, Ashey, Mercier; Lancisi

Central IP H R ER BB SO

Parker (L, 3-1) 2 2/3 9 9 9 4 0

Malcolm 1 1/3 3 5 3 1 1

Searsport IP H R ER BB SO

Dakin (W, 2-2) 4 6 2 1 1 0

J. Nickerson 1 2 1 0 1 1

HBP?Mercier by Malcolm; BK?Dakin; PB?Smith; T?1:35; ATT?100 (est.)