READFIELD — On a cold, windy day more suited for April than June, the Maranacook baseball team did enough of the little things right to pull out a playoff win.

Locked into a tight pitching duel, the Black Bears scratched out a couple of runs in the fourth inning then blew the game open with a five-run fifth to down Leavitt 8-1 in a Class B South quarterfinal game Thursday.

The fourth-seeded Black Bears (11-6) advance to a semifinal game against top-seeded Cape Elizabeth on Saturday while No. 5 Leavitt finishes at 10-8.

With a stiff wind and spitting rain blowing into home plate, hard-hit balls turned into routine outfield flies.

“It kind of sucks,” Maranacook catcher Mark Buzzell said of the playing conditions. “It takes a long time to get warmed up then if you sit too long you get tight again. It’s tough to play with.”

Buzzell adjusted better than most. The senior leadoff hitter collected four hits, three off left-handed starter Julian Kirouac, and drove in three runs.

“I’ve seen him before,” Buzzell said. “I’ve played with him a few years and I know that his curve ball is good. I just kind of kept my head down and went with it.”

Maranacook starter Avery Beckwith (7-1) gave up six hits in 4 1/3 innings of work but just a single run in the third. The Black Bears got that back in the fourth when Chris Florek led the inning with a single up the middle and Dan Garand and Matt Gyorgy followed with walks. Kent Mohlar’s sacrifice fly scored Florek and Buzzell drove in the go-ahead run with an infield single to short.

The lead appeared short-lived as the Hornets got to Beckwith in the top of the fifth. Maranacook coach Eric Brown lifted him with a pair of runners on and one out for his twin brother and fellow sophomore, Jared.

“We’ve had a Beckwith-Beckwith combo all year long and I have a lot of confidence in them,” Brown said.

He got Lucas Perry on a fly ball to center but Tim Albert’s fly ball looked as if it would drop into left field to tie the game. But shortstop Jason Brooks fooled everyone when he sprinted back for an over the shoulder catch to end the inning.

“I just read it off the bat pretty well,” Brooks said. “I knew it was going to be over my head so I just turned around and sprinted to the spot and the ball just happened to be there.”

The Black Bears broke the game open and chased Kirouac (4-1) in the bottom of the fifth. Buzzell singled home a pair of runs, but it was walks and three errors that did the Hornets in.

“We won four in a row so we kind of came in with a good attitude and looking forward to the game,” Leavitt coach Chris Cifelli said. “We were up so it was a little bit of a surprise with that one bad inning.”

Jared Beckwith retired seven of the last eight batters he faced, getting five of them on outfield fly balls.

“I love playing with these guys,” Brooks said “We’ve got each other’s backs. We’ve got our ace going on the mound on Saturday and I think we can pull off a big win.”