OLD ORCHARD BEACH — Not even Mother Nature could stop Dirigo ace Gavin Arsenault.

The senior hurler would scatter just four Old Orchard Beach hits – and would have to wait out a lengthy “thunder” delay – as he pitched the No. 9 Cougars to a 7-2 win over the No. 8 Seagulls in the Class C South prelims on Tuesday at The Ballpark.

OOB head coach Tom LaChance was not surprised to see Arsenault put together a strong performance on the hill.

“He’s had the experience on the mound, the presence, the confidence of winning – all things on a senior veteran that you would expect to see,” said LaChance.

Arsenault would give up an early run as the Seagulls opened the scoring in the bottom of the first.

Thomas Fregeau would lead off the inning with a double and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from Cody Blanchette. The Seagulls would then use some small ball to take a 1-0 lead as they executed a squeeze play with Evan O’Donnell laying down a perfect bunt to score Fregeau.

“We actually worked a whole practice just on small ball because when you get to playoffs, to tell you the truth, it’s what wins you games. You have to be able to play small ball,” said LaChance.

OOB starter Sam Custeau would hold the Dirigo bats down through the first two innings, but the Cougars would tie the game in the top of the third.

Following a fly out, Arsenault would start the rally with a single and the standout scored two batters later when Riley Robinson smacked an RBI double to make it 1-1.

The Cougars would take their first lead of the game in the top of the fifth – and like the Seagulls did in the first inning, they would use small ball to get it done.

Gus Brown would start off the inning with an infield single. New OOB pitcher Cody Blanchette would get the first out with a strikeout, but then hit Cooper Chiasson with a pitch to put runners on first and second. A groundball off the bat of Bryce Whittemore would lead to a throwing error that brought Brown home for a 2-1 lead.

The Cougars (11-6) took a page out of OOB’s playbook with a squeeze play of their own as Chase Thebarge laid down a bunt to score Chiasson for a 3-1 Dirigo lead.

“We play small ball, especially come playoff time,” said Dirigo coach Ryan Palmer.

LaChance knew that handing Arsenault a two-run lead would be trouble for his squad.

“A good veteran pitcher, who has pitched in (championship games) and everything else, you give him a couple runs to play with, he now can play with the outside, instead of straight down the middle,” said LaChance.

Arsenault would strike out the first batter he faced in the bottom of the fifth, but he would have to wait nearly an hour before throwing his next pitch. The teams were sent off the field after the umpires were alerted that there was thunder in the area.

Once the game was resumed, Arsenault would continue where he left off as he struck out the next two batters to end the fifth.

“I just kept warm. Coach told me to keep my stretching going, play a little catch and I just came out there and started dealing again,” said Arsenault, who finished the game with 15 strikeouts.

Palmer was hoping the delay wouldn’t force Arsenault to head to the dugout.

“It was going to depend on how long the delay was,” said Palmer. “We knew once he threw one pitch in the fourth inning that we had lost him for Thursday. He has been honest with me all year, and as long as he was feeling OK, he was going to go the duration.”

The Cougars would add on some insurance runs in the top of the seventh as another squeeze, a wild pitch and an RBI double from Arsenault would push the Dirigo lead to 7-1.

OOB (8-9) wouldn’t go away quietly as O’Donnell led off the inning with a double and scored on a single from Jon Gillis.

Arsenault would then slam the door as he got a fly out and a strikeout to end the game.

“Our team was up because it was a big game and we are just pumped that we got the W,” said Arsenault.

The Cougars will now head to No. 1 Monmouth for the Class C South Quarterfinals on Thursday. This will be the third meeting between the two squads – with the undefeated Mustangs winning the first two games, 7-1 and 8-5.

“This will be our third time playing them … it’s tough to beat a team three times, so we’ll be ready,” said Arsenault.

For OOB, the 2016 season may be over, but the future looks bright.

“It’s (about) bringing the program back, the support back … as you saw, the fans are back,” said LaChance, who returned to the program this year after a five-year hiatus. “We have big plans in place for what they are going to do in the offseason and then we have trips planned next year for Florida and Connecticut. So the whole idea of everything, next year and the year after, we should be right there.”

NOTES: OOB would get a single in the bottom of the second from shortstop Joe McCullum, who also made several impressive plays in the field … Arsenault struck out the side three different times on Tuesday … Dirigo is looking to get back to the state finals after winning state championships in 2010, 2012 and 2013.

— Sports Editor Pat McDonald can be reached at pmcdonald@journaltribune.com or at 282-1535 ext. 322. Follow the Journal Tribune Sports Department on Twitter @ JournalTsports.