HAMPDEN – Emmitt Harrity had played singles in only one other match this spring, and Dan Ohno and Nate Peterson were first-time doubles partners.

Yet all three performed like veterans in those roles Saturday to help the top-ranked Orono boys tennis team oust No. 5 Madawaska 4-1 in an Eastern Maine Class C semifinal at Bangor Tennis.

“I was pretty nervous because it was a semifinal and I had only played singles once before,” said Harrity, who outlasted the Owls’ Craig Daigle 7-5, 7-6 (7-4) at third singles. “I just tried to keep the ball in play and let him make the mistakes. That was my strategy.”

Orono (13-1) will face No. 2 George Stevens Academy of Blue Hill (12-2) for the regional championship at 1 p.m. Wednesday at Colby College in Waterville. The teams split two earlier matches this season.

Madawaska finishes 9-6.

With second singles player Keith Hedrick out of state, Orono had to adjust its lineup for the opening round of the playoffs. And when the defending EM champs struggled to a 3-2 quarterfinal win over No. 5 Sumner of East Sullivan, Red Riots coach Dean Armstrong was left to consider further juggling.

The lineup he sent out against Madawaska had only two common forces from the quarterfinal alignment – Nimesh Patel at first singles and Tommy Boyle and Angus Rose at first doubles.

Nate Curtis and Harrity, who teamed at second doubles in the quarterfinal, moved to second and third singles. Peterson, who played third singles against Sumner, teamed with Ohno at second doubles.

“I took a chance putting those guys in at second and third singles,” said Armstrong. “I wanted to get them into the match and see what they could do. We had to do something different because we had a difficult day the other day.”

The team’s stabilizing forces delivered with straight-set victories. Boyle and Rose cruised to a 6-1, 6-0 win over Madawaska’s Tyler Stoliker and Andrew Albert. Patel, despite breaking a string on his racket early in his match, defeated Matt Bosse 6-4, 6-1.

Madawaska’s Tyler Levesque then broke Curtis late in the first set to take control and earned a 6-4, 6-2 victory to leave Orono with a tenuous 2-1 lead.

At second doubles, Madawaska’s Craig Cyr and Shawn Parker controlled the net to win the first set 7-5, but Peterson and Ohno rallied to win the final two sets 6-3, 6-3 for what proved to be the winning point.

“It was a challenge,” said Peterson. “Now you not only had to look out for yourself, but you had to make sure you didn’t mess up for your partner. Now you had somebody counting on you, which is a lot different than singles.”

Harrity and Daigle played a marathon two sets, with the end of the match coming moments after Ohno and Peterson had clinched the team victory. Both players stayed largely on the baseline, waging lengthy rallies.

“It’s harder,” Harrity said. “There’s a lot more space to cover.”

Madawaska reached last year’s EM final before falling to Orono, but returned just two players this spring in Bosse and Levesque, who both played doubles in 2005.

“I think the boys didn’t have high expectations at the beginning of the year, being as young as we are,” said Owls’ coach Ben Sirois. “Just getting this far was amazing for them, so when they started out today, their attitude was to do their best and see what happens. And when it started off and looked like it could go either way, they had their hopes up, but they weren’t disappointed at the end of it. They were impressed with their effort, and so was I.”