WINSLOW – Once they learned their team would face Lawrence of Fairfield again in a rare playoff for the eighth and final spot in the Eastern Maine baseball tournament, Waterville coaches had a bad feeling about the rematch.

The Purple Panthers had already beaten the Bulldogs twice before and winning a third – especially in a playoff game – is an unenviable task for anyone.

“My father is my assistant coach and he was really worried about this one. He didn’t want to see them again,” said Waterville coach Dick Whitten.

Whitten’s fears proved justifiable as the Bulldogs and Panthers hooked up in a suspense-filled pressure cooker of a game which Waterville squeezed out with a 3-2, eight-inning victory.

The tense win earned the 9-8 Panthers a date with top seed Bangor (15-1) at Mansfield Stadium Thursday afternoon. Lawrence finishes the season 8-9.

Despite the dominance of starter Gary Veilleux, who fanned 13 Panthers, Waterville scraped up three runs thanks to four critical Lawrence errors – two in the eighth:

Ironically, Dean Poulin started the game-winning rally with a one-out fielder’s choice – the only time he didn’t get a hit. A misplayed grounder put runners at first and second before Veilleux scooped a grounder up the middle and threw to third for the apparent force. The ball was dropped and Poulin scooted home for the winning run.

Lawrence’s Travis Hotham (3-for-3) made things interesting in the bottom of the inning with a one-out double down the left-field line. A Bob Van Gordon walk later, Luke Mitchell ripped a 1-2 pitch toward the right infield hole, but second baseman Corey Pion speared the ball, lunged at Van Gordon for the tag, and threw to first for the game-ending double play – Waterville’s third of the game.

“The double plays were rally killers, but in a game like this, the mistakes are magnified and they usually come back to haunt you… And ours did,” said Bulldogs coach Scott Ballard, whose team returned one starter from last year.

The Panthers took a 1-0 lead in the second. Poulin led off with a single, moved to second on a Lucas Provost walk, and scored when a throw to second on Provost’s steal attempt sailed into the outfield.

Lawrence tied the game in its half of the second on Hotham’s leadoff double, Van Gordon’s single, and a double play.

The tie was short-lived as two more Lawrence errors made it 2-1 Watervile in the third. Waterville’s Pion, whose one-out grounder got through the third baseman, stole second and scored on Poulin’s RBI single to right

Four scoreless innings later, the ‘Dogs mounted a dramatic comeback in the seventh, thanks to a Waterville miscue.

Luke Mitchell reached second on a two-base error when the throw to first on his grounder was dropped. Lawrence made the Panthers pay and showed a flair for the dramatic two batters later on Adam LeClair’s pinch-hit, one-out, game-tying single to right center.

LeClair would get all the way to third, but starter Jesse Willett (5-2) avoided a loss with a strikeout and forceout at second.

Willett, who was twice almost lifted from the game, turned in MVP honors with a five-hitter.

“I asked him in the seventh and again in the eighth how he felt, and he said `I feel good,’ said Whitten. “Then I went out with one out in the eighth with runners on first and second. I said `How do you feel? You want Corey [Pelletier] to come in and finish it for you?’ and he said `Give me this batter.’ Well, obviously that’s all he needed.”

Panthers 3, Bulldogs 2

Waterville boys (9-8) Lawrence (8-9)

Name ab r h bi Name ab r h bi

Ireland, dh 3 0 0 0 Pelletier,ss 4 0 0 0

Smith, dh 1 0 0 0 Robertson,lf 3 0 0 0

Pion, 2b 4 1 1 0 Richard, 2b 4 0 0 0

Lefebvre, c 3 0 0 0 Hotham, 1b 3 1 3 0

a-Johanesmr 0 0 0 0 Van Gordon,c 3 0 1 0

Poulin, 1b 4 2 3 1 Mitchell, rf 4 0 0 0

b-LeClair 0 0 0 0 c-Smith 0 1 0 0

Carpenter, lf 3 0 0 0 Teague, dh 3 0 0 0

Provost, cf 3 0 0 0 Johnson, 3b 1 0 0 0

Dubay, 3b 4 0 0 0 d-LeClair 1 0 1 1

Hart, ss 2 0 1 0 Chastain, 1b 1 0 0 0

Brooks, rf 3 0 0 0

Hutchinson, rf 1 0 0 0

Totals 31 3 5 1 Totals 27 2 5 1

a-ran for Lefebvre in eighth

b-ran for Poulin in sixth

c-ran for Mitchell in seventh

d-singled for Johnson in seventh

Waterville 011 000 01 – 3

Lawrence 010 000 10 – 2

E – Willett, Poulin; Pelletier, Van Gordon, Johnson 2, Chastain 2B – Hotham 2 LOB – Waterville 9; Lawrence 8 DP – Dubay-Pion-Poulin, Hart-Pion-Poulin, Pion-Poulin SB – Provost, Pion 2, L. LeClair S – Carpenter; Robertson

PITCHER IP H R ER BB SO

Waterville

Willett (W,5-2) 8 5 2 1 4 3

Lawrence

Veilleux (L,3-3) 8 5 3 0 3 13

HBP – Lefebvre by Veilleux WP – Veilleux PB – Hart TIME – 2:01 ATTENDANCE – 193