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SKOWHEGAN — The bottom line always takes precedent over aesthetics when you are still playing softball in the second week of June.

It certainly was not a pretty win for No. 2 Skowhegan Area High School in the Eastern Class A quarterfinals Wednesday, but it was a victory nonetheless as the Indians prevailed 4-3 over No. 7 Edward Little.

“This is what you kind of expect come playoff time,” Skowhegan coach Lee Johnson said. “They came, they put in a good effort today and they played well. It was a game both teams probably deserved to win the thing; fortunately for us we got the timely hit when we needed to and were able to score the runs.

“…You’ve got to be more than just good in the playoffs. You have to get some breaks as well and you have to be able to win the close ones.”

Trailing 3-2 heading into the bottom of the fifth, catcher Andrea Quirion roped a two-out double down the line in left field to score Eliza Bedard from first to tie the game.

Pitcher Kaitlyn Therriault — who struck out 10 in the win — set the Red Eddies down in order in the top of the sixth and then led off the bottom half of the inning with a double.

Emma Fitzgerald nearly followed with another extra base hit, but a fantastic over-the-shoulder catch from left fielder Hannah Smith gave Edward Little the first out of the inning.

Therriault then advanced to third on a pass ball, while Morgan Buker drew a walk and advanced to second on defensive indifference.

It seemed as if the Indians’ offense would stall once again with runners in scoring position, though — a reoccurring trend for Skowhegan — as Bonnie-June Aiken lined back to the pitcher for the second out of the inning. In the second and fourth innings the Indians were held scoreless despite having runners on second and third with no outs, the latter of those two situations ending with three straight strikeouts.

The final strikeout in that stretch came from No. 9 hitter Rene Wright, who in the sixth found herself in the same exact situation.

This time, however, Wright was up to the task and laid down a perfect bunt for a single that allowed Therriault to score from third.

“I kind of looked at where the third baseman was and went from there,” Wright said. “I noticed that she was kind of in, so first base looked like a pretty good spot to put that.”

Therriault’s work for the afternoon was far from over. In the top of the seventh she would need some key plays by the Indian defense to pick up the win.

Kory Norcross and Kennedy Hubbard drew back-to-back walks to lead off the inning. Calli Murphy followed by laying down a sacrifice bunt that essentially did the job — albeit in an unconventional manner.

Murray was called safe at first on the throw over by Aiken from third, but Bedard, the second baseman covering first on the bunt, alertly looked back toward home upon receiving the ball to see Norcross was caught in between bases.

Norcross broke for home and appeared to slide into the base before Quirion got the ball, but the Skowhegan catcher had alertly blocked the plate with her thigh. This allowed Quirion time to recover the ball — as she had initially dropped it — and tag Norcross for the first out of the inning.

“The only thing I knew I had to do was block the plate and get the tag,” Quirion said. “It scared me because I didn’t have the ball in my hand, but all I had to do was tag her because I guess I had blocked (the plate).”

In the confusion of the play Hubbard and Murray advanced to second and third, respectively, essentially giving the Red Eddies the situation for which they had hoped.

Skowhegan then more or less intentionally walked Danny Rock, pitching around Edward Little’s cleanup hitter to load the bases.

“We definitely intentionally walked the kid to load the bases and try to get the force out at home,” Johnson said. “Fortunately, it worked out. It could have also backfired on us but we did what we thought we had to do.”

The move turned out to be the right one as Hannah Farrington grounded the ball to Fitzgerald at short, who in turn fired home to get the force out.

Therriault then took matters into her own hands, winning an eight-pitch at bat with opposing pitcher Sarah Hammond by climbing the ladder and getting her swinging on a fastball up in the zone.

“It was supposed to be outside,” Quirion said, “but it was up and it worked out great.”

“I felt a lot of pressure,” added Therriault. “…(I was trying to) mix up the pitches more and not throw it down the middle, because I knew she was hitting those.”

Offensively for Skowhegan six different players accounted for the Indians’ six hits, with a big one coming in the second inning on a double from Fitzgerald that plated Quirion and Therriault.

Skowhegan will next host the winner of No. 3 Bangor and No. 6 Brewer in the Eastern A semifinals Saturday.

“We played them both; we know what they are,” Johnson said. “They’re both good teams. Anybody you face from this point forward is going to be a tough battle. We know that.”

Evan Crawley — 621-5640

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Twitter: Evan_Crawley