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NEWPORT — The first matchup between the Nokomis and Lawrence baseball teams in Fairfield took 12 innings to complete with Lawrence prevailing.

The rematch didn’t need extras and produced a different winner, and now the Warriors and Bulldogs will play the waiting game as the final pieces of the postseason puzzle fall into place.

Nokomis claimed a 5-1 victory over Lawrence in Monday’s regular-season finale. The result has the seventh-place Warriors breathing down the No. 6 Bulldogs’ necks in the Class B North standings. The sixth-seeded team receives the final playoff bye in the region.

“It’s a big win for us,” said Nokomis coach Jeff Chretien. “Our offense has been a little stagnant at times this year, but we’re really starting to hit the ball well and get those big hits when we need them. Wherever we end up, we just have to keep it rolling.”

HOW THEY DID IT

• Seth Bowden. The senior was brilliant on the mound for Nokomis (12-4), striking out six batters, walking none, allowing just two hits and no earned runs in a complete-game effort. He also had a single and three RBI for the Warriors at the plate.

• Defense. Nokomis did commit one error that led to the lone Lawrence (11-5) run in the fifth inning, but outside of that the Warriors were crisp in the field. Owen Menard made a particularly nice snag at third on a hard-hit line drive by the Bulldogs’ Dawson Moore.

“My fastball was working today, and they were popping it up, so there was no point in going away from it,” Bowden said. “(Our defense), all of them have been incredible all year. Our infield is special, and our outfield is special. … We’ve had pretty much no errors all year, so that’s pretty much our strong suit.”

• Nokomis out-executed Lawrence. The Warriors didn’t produce a hit in the first inning but used two errors by the Bulldogs to score a pair of runs. The Bulldogs also issued six walks with three of those runners coming around to score for Nokomis.

“(Bowden) didn’t walk anybody, and he did the same thing against us last time — pitched nine innings and didn’t walk anybody,” said Lawrence coach Corey Pelletier. “That’s the difference right there because when you get those baserunners on, you can do stuff.”

WHAT IT MEANS

• Lawrence (75.703 Heal points) and Nokomis (74.766) are now neck-and-neck in the Class B North standings. The teams could finish in either order depending on how some of their KVAC brethren fare in their remaining games Tuesday and Wednesday.

“It’s crazy (that we’re 12-4 and might get the seven seed), but at the end of the day, we’re in,” Bowden said. “There’s no better time for us to start clicking than now.”

NOTABLE QUOTABLE

“It’s been a good season for us. We’ve had a couple close games, losing to Lawrence (the first time) in that (12-inning) game and then losing to Cony when we had it tied going into the seventh, but we’ve played hard all season and played everybody well.” — Jeff Chretien

STAT LEADERS

• Lawrence: Trevor Pellerin (L, 4 1/3 IP, 3 ER, 2 K, 5 BB), Nolan Owens (1B), Keenan McLain (1B)

• Nokomis: Seth Bowden (W, CG, 0 ER, 6 K, 0 BB; 1B, 3 RBI), Owen Menard (1B, RBI), Daegan Trafton (1B)