SACO — Even after Thornton Academy squandered most of its 7-1 lead, head coach Jason Lariviere was confident his Golden Trojans would find a way to win.

Thornton (13-2) entered Saturday afternoon’s tilt with Biddeford (8-7) as the No. 2 seed in Class A South and built a six-run lead through five innings. Then, the Trojans held off the pesky Tigers for an 8-5 win.

“It’s a different feeling with this year’s team,” Lariviere said. “I just feel like these kids are going to come through each game. We don’t really get nervous because we have a lot of confidence in what we can do.”

That confidence Saturday came off the bats of Cam Seymour and Luke Chessie. After Biddeford scored three runs in the top of the sixth to cut the margin to 7-5, Seymour blasted a solo home run in the bottom of the frame to give Thornton a three-run lead.

Seymour also had a hand in giving Thornton a 7-1 advantage with a two-run single during a three-run fourth. Chessie provided a spark at the top of the order with two hits and two runs scored, but Lariviere was quick to praise the overall team effort, rather than focus on just his two stars.

“They work hard, and I can tell you it’s a team effort,” Lariviere said. “It’s a tough lineup to get through when we’re hitting well.”

Despite trailing early, Biddeford didn’t quit. The Tigers cut into their deficit in the fifth on an Ashton Crowell RBI single. In the sixth, Matthew Rouselle drew a bases-loaded walk from reliever Patrick Sawyer, who came in for starter Ryan Penney. Crowell followed with a two-run single to make it 7-5.

Nicholas Griffin came in to replace Sawyer with two outs and got Nick Lyons, who represented the tying run, to chase a breaking ball out of the zone to end the Tigers rally.

“The kids have hung tough all year,” said Biddeford coach Keith Leblanc. “We haven’t hit particularly well, but we’ve been in a lot of close games. The defense has kind of carried us all year long, but it was a good job of the guys just kind of chipping away.”

Crowell finished with three RBIs and Rousselle went 3-3 with a double to lead the Tiger offense.

Biddeford took a 1-0 lead in the first off Thornton’s Penney when Kurtis Edgerton scored on an error, but Penney settled down and pitched five strong innings, allowing two runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out three.

With the win, Thornton moves closer to securing a top-two seed and a bye for the Class A tournament, and Lariviere knows what lies ahead — a daunting playoff run in an extremely competitive region. But he’s confident his team will be ready to go once the playoffs arrive.

“We’ve been hitting the ball really well, playing good defense, and I think we did a good job of that today,” he said. “It’s always nice to get a win against Biddeford.”