RICHMOND — The Richmond baseball team didn’t start the Class D South playoffs the way it wanted offensively. But the Bobcats came through when they needed it most.

An RBI single by sophomore David Edwards in the fifth inning broke a 0-0 tie, and No. 2 Richmond was able to pick up another run in the sixth inning to top No. 7 Carrabec 2-0 in a quarterfinal matchup on Tuesday afternoon.

Richmond (14-1) moves to the semifinal round, playing the winner of the No. 3 Searsport vs. No. 6 Forest Hills quarterfinal. The Bobcats have reached the regional final each of the past two seasons, only to be knocked out by St. Dominic, the two-time defending Class D champion.

Richmond was led by junior pitcher Brady Alexander, who hurled a five-hit shutout, striking out seven batters. Alexander seemed to get stronger on the mound as the game went on, striking out three batters in his final three innings. He forced two groundouts in the seventh and was backed up by strong defensive play throughout.

“It feels good (to move on),” Alexander said. “We got our defense cleaned up. I just pitch it so that my defense does the work. They’ve got it.”

With two outs in the fifth inning, junior Rhys Terry got a base hit for the Bobcats, then stole second base and reached third on a balk by Carrabec (6-8) pitcher Nathaniel Caldwell. Edwards plated Terry moments later with a base hit up the middle.

“We just had to have each other’s backs, keep cheering each other on (offensively), get the guys in the dugout in the game, too,” Alexander said. “That’s what we do.”

“Carrabec came ready to play today,” Richmond head coach Ryan Gardner said. “They put the ball in play. I was extremely happy with my defense. Brady threw a great game. We hit the ball at them. And I think we rushed (offensively). Our at-bats were not quality at-bats. We weren’t willing to take some pitches, be patient at the plate. For a couple innings, we were just swinging at the first pitch. But that’s baseball.”

Ben Fournier led off the sixth inning for Richmond by reaching second base on an error in the outfield. Cody Fournier then moved Fournier to third on a groundout and moments later, Fournier scored on a pickoff attempt at third base.

Carrabec’s best chance at a run came in the fifth, when Logan Caldwell smacked a double into center field.

With the win, Richmond makes a clean sweep over Carrabec for the season, with a 14-0 win on May 9, then a 15-1 victory on May 28.