Coming into the state American Legion tournament, Saco-Biddeford Savings of Westbrook’s manager Greg Souza knew that pitching was his squad’s indubitable strength.

On Wednesday, Keenan Lowe proved him right.

Lowe was dominant over eight innings on Aug. 1, limiting Zone 5 champions Fayette-Staples of Saco to one run as Zone 4 champion Westbrook took a comfortable 5-1 victory in the first round of the state tournament at The Ballpark in Old Orchard Beach.

Lowe struck out six in his eight innings of work, scattering seven hits and not letting Saco’s strong lineup to get into any sort of rhythm. Pitching the key first game in what can be a grueling tournament if forced into the losers’ bracket, Lowe said he knew getting deep into the game was a priority.

“We had a couple of kids quit over the summer, so we knew we were going to be a little short on pitching,” Lowe said. “I knew I had to give my team at least seven innings, so I was pretty happy about that and keeping them to one run the whole game.”

For a team that has at times struggled to push runs across the plate this Legion season, Lowe’s performance was a massive boost to his team’s tournament hopes, not just for Wednesday’s game, but moving forward.

“We’ve got five games potentially in five days, so if we can save our bullpen and save our arms and not get into that losers’ bracket, that’s huge,” Souza said. “(Lowe) did a great job, he’s done a great job for us all year. He’s a big strong kid, he can throw forever.”

The game started as a pitching duel between Lowe and Saco starter Jeff Gelinas, with only one runner able to reach third in the first four innings.

But the bottom of Westbrook’s order was able to string some baserunners together in the bottom of the fifth, helped by some leaky Saco defense.

Lowe walked to start the inning, and Kaleb Kent followed with a single to right to move Lowe to third. A Collin Joyce groundout gave Westbrook a 1-0 lead, which is where the scoring should have ended.

But an error by Saco shortstop Dillon Dunbar on a Kyle Schumacher grounder kept the inning alive, allowing Kent to score from second to make it 2-0. And when Saco third baseman Alex Fallon failed to corral a grounder, the miscue allowed Schumacher to score to give Westbrook a 3-0 cushion.

The fact that it was the team’s six through nine hitters that did the damage for Westbrook was a good sign, Souza said.

“We played like this all year, we’ve had pitching and struggled to hit,” he said. “If the bottom of our order hits, we usually do all right.”

Westbrook added two more in the sixth, with Gelinas this time becoming his own worst enemy by throwing a potential inning-ending double play ball into center field. Both runners eventually scored, giving Lowe all the support he needed.

“I think me and (Zack) Bean can keep them under three runs, so if we can hit the ball we should be able to win a lot of games,” Lowe said. “Getting those small hits, that helps a lot.”

Lowe did allow a run in the seventh, but it wasn’t nearly enough for Saco as Lowe remained strong through eight and Aaron Duncanson came in to clean up in the ninth.

Though happy with his team’s performance in taking a positive first step into the winners’ bracket, Souza said they realized it would take still more at the plate to walk away with the trophy Sunday.

“We still need to hit, we’re going to face good pitching throughout this tournament,” he said. “If we hit we have a shot, because our pitchers usually keep us in it.”

Westbrook will now play Windham at 4 p.m. on Thursday. Saco will play Post 51 of Messalonskee in an elimination game at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday.

Westbrook’s Sam Stauble takes a swing in the fourth inning against Saco in the first round of the American Legion state tournament on Wednesday at The Ballpark in Old Orchard Beach. Westbrook won the game 5-1.